


Cop or Vigilante

by Corporal_Levi25



Category: DCU, Justice League - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Dick Grayson is Confused, Disappointment, Language, Violence, happy? ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2019-11-18 03:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 45,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18112337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corporal_Levi25/pseuds/Corporal_Levi25
Summary: Richard Grayson is a genius Bludhaven cop in Gotham for a specific purpose: figure out the identities of Gotham's heroes. Will he figure them out and leave? Or will he be dragged into the hero business? Things get more complicated than Richard thought they would.





	1. Chapter 1

Richard Grayson was woken by his 6:00 am alarm. He groggily opened his eyes, got out of bed, and made his way to his bathroom. There he took a shower and dressed in his uniform. As he left his apartment, he said good morning to the normal people and got in his car to drive to Bludhaven Precinct. 

“Morning, Rosa.” He said with a smile as he walked into the bullpen.

“Good morning, Officer Grayson.” She said back. “The commissioner wants you in his office.”

Richard nodded and started heading to the commissioner’s office.  _ Maybe I finally got that promotion.  _ Richard has been a police officer for the past three years, he’s solved all the hard cases and is at his physical peak. Needless to say, all the police departments want him in their city. He walked into Commissioner Shou’s office and stood at attention. 

“Rosa told me you needed to speak with me.” He said, getting the commissioner's attention.

“Ah, Grayson, yes. I have some good news for you, depending on how you look at it.” Shou replied from his seat at his desk.

“And what might this news be, Commissioner?” Richard asked.

“You’re being promoted to detective…” Shou trailed.

Richard was ecstatic but he knew that when someone trailed off, one of two things was going to happen. One: something bad is going to counteract the good, or two: things were about to get complicated.

“I’m sensing a ‘but’,” Grayson replied.

“...but Gotham PD needs a good detective, so you’re going to be working in Gotham and in Bludhaven. Part-time in each.” Shou answered.

“And why am I part-timing in two cities?” Grayson asked.

“Gotham’s having some trouble with their crazies and the mayor wants to know who the hell the Batman is, and since you are among the smartest, most physically fit officers between Bludhaven and Gotham, Mayor Walker agreed to let Gotham share you,” Shou answered.

“...so am I there until Batman’s identity is revealed or is this permanent?” Richard questioned.

“Just until Batman’s identity is revealed unless you want to be transferred there,” Shou said with a little sadness in his voice. 

“Alright, um, how about I just stay in Gotham until the Batman situation is solved?” Richard suggested.

“Yeah, that’ll be fine,” Shou replied.

“Alright, so” Richard sat down. “did your wife like the necklace?” 

“Yeah, she loved it. Allyson wanted to get one so she could wear it to school today. For a five-year-old, she has quite the expensive taste.” Shou replied.

Richard laughed. 

“So do you.”

Shou scoffed.

“Don’t you have a cat to save from a tree?” Shou said with a smile.

“Oh yes of course.” Richard laughed as he got up. “Do you need me to pick Allyson up today?” He asked as he walked to the door.

“Nope, Sheila’s going to pick her up,” Shou replied getting back to work.

Richard nodded as he left.

* * *

 

Richard walked into the Gotham Precinct and immediately noticed the differences between the sister cities. Bludhaven was crime infested, but Gotham was consumed by crime. The precinct was bustling with officers and detectives struggling with criminals, interrogating witnesses, and he could tell which of them was corrupted by the way they talked with the people who were in handcuffs. A man in a trenchcoat with glasses, a mustache, brown hair and eyes walked up to him and extended a hand.

“Commissioner Jim Gordon. You must be the detective from Bludhaven. We don’t have your badge yet, but you’ll be staying at a hotel a few blocks from here. Everything you need for your time here is being taken care of by the mayor... The mayor said you’re a genius.” He introduced.

Richard gave a small laugh and shook Gordon’s hand.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a genius but yeah. Detective Richard Grayson. Thanks for the hospitality.” They let go of each other's hand. 

“Grayson...as in…” Gordon trailed off.

“Yeah. “ Richard confirmed.

“So you’re a child of Gotham?” Gordon asked.

“Yeah. I know the ropes, I did grow up in Gotham’s New Hope Orphanage.” Richard said. “So what do you have on this Batman?” 

Gordon started walking, motioning for Richard to follow him. 

“Well, he’s a vigilante who tends to beat the hell out of thugs and the crazies ruling Gotham. I honestly think he’s God’s gift to this place. Mayor Garcia thinks differently, obviously. Recently, Batman’s been seen with a kid, Robin. Another vigilante popped up a few months ago. Calls himself Red Hood. We know almost nothing about that one but, we do know Robin has black hair. We know both Batman and Robin are white. We suspect Batman to be in his early thirties and Robin to be in his teens. Neither of them kill, Red Hood, however, does.” Gordon opened a door to an office, his office Richard guessed. “Some of our analysts think Batman is rich due to his gadgets, but the only one with the amount of money to support the Batman is Bruce Wayne,” Gordon said.

“Bruce Wayne? Head of Wayne Enterprises? The playboy?” Richard replied.

“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Gordon said before continuing. “So we were thinking that maybe he supplies Batman or Batman steals from Wayne. However, we have no evidence to support either. Batman hides his tracks very well.” 

Gordon opened his file cabinet and pulled out a file filled with pictures. Most of them were blurry, some of them were clear, but all were of Batman. A handful of them were of Robin. Richard combed through them.

“How long have Batman and Robin been active?” He asked.

“Batman’s been active for around two years. Robin’s been around for about 3 months.” Gordon answered.

“Then that means Robin isn’t related to Batman but was brought into the fold. Could also mean too attached to be brought in until recently.” Richard muttered.

“How do you know?” Gordon asked.

“If the two were related, Robin would’ve been brought in way before now. Probably when Batman got a hold on what he was doing. Perhaps Batman met Robin and brought him into the fold. They have the same ideals.” Richard answered.

“If Robin was his son, he wouldn’t.” Gordon countered.

“That’s also a possibility,” Richard admitted.

Richard put down the pictures and looked up at Gordon.

“May I speak with Mr. Wayne?” He asked.

“Yeah, do you want me to get someone to escort you there?” Gordon asked.

“No, I’ll ride my bike over there. I used to live here, I’m pretty sure I know how to get to Wayne Manor.” Richard replied.

“Your bike? Isn’t the Manor a little far to ride a bicycle?” Gordon questioned.

Richard laughed.

“Not that kind of bike. A motorcycle.” Richard cleared. 

Gordon looked at his clothes. A blue dress shirt, black trousers, black trench coat, he did, however, have on boots. 

“All my motorcycling gear is with my bike.” Richard shrugged.

“Ah, okay.” Gordon nodded.

Richard turned to leave.

“Be careful, Gotham’s a dangerous city. You may be from here, but things have changed.” Gordon warned.

Richard was silent for a moment. “I know.”

* * *

 

When Richard got off his sleek black Harley, he observed Wayne Manor. It was a beautiful place, but quiet, too quiet for his taste. With a sigh, Richard walked to the front door and used the knocker to get the attention of whoever was inside. After a moment, an elderly man opened the fancy oak door. 

“Good afternoon, sir. What may I do for you?” He asked. 

_ English accent, suit, nice manners, must be the butler, Allen?  _

“I’m here to speak with Mr. Wayne.” He flashed his Bludhaven badge.

Alfred looked at the badge with suspicion, then looked at Richard.

“Just here in Gotham for a case. Don’t have my Gotham badge yet. Commissioner Gordon’s supposed to be handling that.” Richard said with a small, apologetic smile.

Alfred nodded and let the officer in.

With a bow, he said, “I’m Wayne’s butler, Alfred.”

_ Damn, I was so close.  _

“Detective Richard Grayson,” Richard said with a nod and extended his hand.

Alfred shook it with a firm hand.  _ Quite the grip.  _

“Please give me a moment to fetch Master Bruce,” Alfred said politely.

Richard nodded, and Alfred went up the stairs. Having no one to talk to, Richard looked around and caught a boy peeking at him from behind a wall.

“Hello there.” Richard addressed.

The boy came out a little.  _ This must be Wayne’s ward, Tim Drake. _

“Hi.” He said, short and clipped.

“My name is-” Richard started.

“Detective Richard Grayson. I heard. I’m Tim Drake.” The boy, Tim, said as he stepped out into sight. 

He was young, 14 years old maybe. He also had black hair, blue eyes, white, and looked thin, but Richard could see the muscle on his arms. He was fit. Tim was wearing dark blue jeans and a black shirt.

“Tim, stop creeping people out.” A teenager, 17 maybe, walked out of the kitchen with only gray sweatpants on. 

He was obviously fit. He sported some scars, but the thing that stood out most was the strip of white in his dark hair. He, also, had blue eyes, but they carried a shadow.  _ He’s been through some stuff...Wayne only has one ward on record.  _

“Jason Todd.” The teen introduced himself. 

“Master Jason, were you eating my cookie dough?” Alfred asked as he came downstairs. Bruce Wayne trailing behind him.

“Nope,” Jason said as he liked his fingers.

“You must be the detective Alfred mentioned,” Bruce said as he extended his hand. 

“Yes, Detective Richard Grayson,” Richard said as he shook Bruce’s hand.

The playboy also had a firm grip. Richard found it to be a little suspicious but reasoned that Wayne was a businessman and would know how to shake hands with someone. Bruce Wayne was wearing an expensive looking black suit with a red tie. Richard suddenly felt underdressed in his trenchcoat and button up.

“So what do you need, Detective?” Wayne asked as he led him to a room off to the side.

“I’d like to ask you a few questions about the Batman,” Richard answered.

“Batman? The man who runs around in a bat costume beating people up?” Wayne asked.

“Yes.” 

“Well, alright, ask away,” Wayne said as he sat down at a desk, motioning for Richard to take the seat across from him. 

Richard sat down and Alfred came in to take his coat. Richard took off his coat and gave it to the butler with a quiet thank you.

“I’m going to assume you are aware of the kind of equipment Batman uses…” Richard trailed.

“Yes, I am.” Bruce nodded.

“Just how much would you say that kind of equipment costs, Mr.Wayne?” Richard asked.

“Mmmm, I don’t know. I’d say in the ballpark of 700 million, assuming he bought it all and not just parts to make it.” Bruce answered.

“And what about if he bought parts?” Richard asked.

_ It could be possible that Batman is an engineer, an advanced engineer.  _

“That would be in the billions. He would have to buy not only the parts but also the equipment to assemble them.” Wayne responded.

“So either way, Batman would have to be rich to pull this off,” Richard said.

Bruce responded with a nod.

“Alright, thank you for your time, Mr.Wayne,” Richard said with a nod.

Alfred led him to the door and gave Richard his coat.

“Before you leave, may I ask what you’re investigating,” Wayne said from behind him.

Richard had his hands in his pockets, turned his slightly, and looked at Bruce from the corner of his eyes. The man was serious. Eyes dull, mouth in a thin line.  _ He knows something. _

“I’m going to catch the Batman,” Richard said with a smile before putting his helmet on and revving the engine as he drove away.


	2. First Encounters

Richard walked into the precinct after meeting with Bruce, only to be met with the sight of a female cop being held at knifepoint. He sighed. This had happened quite a lot in Bludhaven; he grew to know how to handle these situations. He walked towards the thug and cop.

“Hey there.” He said with a wave.

“Stay back!” The thug yelled.

Richard put up both hands in surrender. 

“No problem. I don’t want to get stabbed, but do you want to get shot?” Richard retorted.

“N-No, but I don’t want to go to jail!” The thug replied.

Richard took a step forward.

“That’s going to be impossible if you kill the nice officer lady, won’t it?” Richard said.

The thug was shaking at this moment, realizing Richard was right. Richard took another step forwards.  _ About four feet away, I can make it if I reach and am fast about it.  _ He reached into his jacket without gaining the Thug’s attention.

“Now that you know that, how about you-” Richard started.

He rushed forward while grabbing his escrima sticks from the inside of his jacket and slamming them both down on the hand holding the knife. The criminal shouted out in pain and dropped the knife. Richard pulled the female cop away from the thug and hit the criminal in the face. He dropped to the floor. Richard tucked his escrima sticks back into his jackets and sighed.

“Someone handcuff him and put him in a cell before he wakes up, please.” He said over his shoulder as he walked to Gordon’s office. He stepped into the commissioner’s office.

“Nice job, kid. Haven’t seen anything like that since I was a detective.” Gordon praised.

“Thank you, Sir,” Richard said before getting to business.

“So I talked to Bruce Wayne and I think he-” Richard started but was interrupted by the insane cackle of the Joker over the cities announcing system. Gordon rushed passed him.

“Come on, kid!” The man yelled over his shoulder as he ran.

Richard sighed before sprinting after him and practically jumping onto his motorcycle, completely ignoring putting on his helmet, and racing off to trail behind Gordon’s car. Richard followed the man to the Gotham’s communication building. Richard turned off his bike just as Gordon got out of his car.

“The hell are all of you doing?! Get in there!” Gordon yelled at the cops surrounding the building.

“Sir, Joker has hostages. He’ll kill them if we storm the building.” One of the officers explained.

“What available entrances do we have?” Gordon asked.

“Sir, if someone goes up on the roof, they can sneak in,” Richard said from his place, leaning on his bike.

“Those vents are barely big enough to fit a man. How do expect someone to be quiet while doing it?” Gordon interrogated.

“If Batman, Red Hood, and Robin can do it, certainly a cop can,” Richard replied as he stood up straight. 

“I’m going up the building to the roof,” Richard said as he walked towards the right side of the building.

“You don’t have a gun!” Gordon yelled after him, ignoring how Richard said he’d go up the building.

Richard reached into his jacket and held up two escrima sticks in his right hand and a gun in his left hand.

“I have one, Commissioner, I just don’t like using it,” Richard yelled back over his shoulder.

“Don’t get yourself killed!” Gordon yelled as Richard jumped to grab a window sill.

He pulled himself up onto the sill and jumped to the window sill of the upper floor and did the same thing. He did this until he got to the top floor. Deciding to put on a little show for the officers watching him from below, including Gordon, he jumped, grabbed the edge of the roof, and flipped up onto the roof. He landed and stood then smiled and waved at the officers below. He could see the disapproval in Gordon’s eyes even from the top of the three-story building.

“Hey, you can take the kid out of the circus, but you can’t take the circus out of the kid!” Richard yelled down with a grin.

Gordon sighed and waved him on to do what he needed to do. Richard turned to go to the vent, which was already opened.  _ Robin?  _ Richard smirked and ran to the vent and quietly went down it until he was able to land on the floor of the top floor. It was dark and eerie, but Richard’s eyes quickly adjusted. He brought out his gun and made his way down the hall towards the insane laughter. He saw a doorway with light pouring out of it and laughter coming from it.  _ Alright, Grayson, you need a plan. You’re alone in here and have no back-up. Be smart about this. _ As he approached a large room, he saw a shadow on the other end of the hall, also approaching the room.  _ Perhaps I do have back up.  _ He holstered his weapon and took a risk. He rushed passed the doorway to the other side of the hallway. As he passed, he took a quick glance inside. Robin was tied up and looked a little rough. Joker was standing before a crowd of hostages making jokes and laughing. 

“Batman, Red Hood, whichever one you are, I am here to help,” Richard whispered with force.

He was met with silence.  _ Maybe I didn’t see anyone.  _

“My name is Richard Grayson. I’m a detective with GCPD and Bludhaven Police.” He tried again.

“You’re the one trying to figure out our identities.” A rough voice said from the shadows.

Richard sighed.  _ I don’t know who’s talking. I think it’s Batman, but I’m not sure. _

“...Yeah.” Richard responded.

“You won’t.” The voice said again.

“I’ll still try,” Richard responded.

“Bats, I don’t care. He can try all he wants. Robin needs help. Now.” A different voice said.

_ So I was talking to Batman. This must be Red Hood. _

“Look, I’m just here to help.” Richard cut in.

“...Fine, here’s the plan.” Batman began.

* * *

 

Richard had his gun out and was just outside the doorway.  _ This is going to suck.  _ He turned and aimed his gun at some of Joker’s gang. He was a good shot and was pretty sure he wouldn’t miss, but he hated using his gun. He shot the first guy in the shoulder then took cover behind a table. He shot gang members in the shoulder or leg, not shooting the two vigilantes also taking out goons, then aimed his gun at Joker.

“It’s over, Joker.” He said with a stern voice.

The insane clown let out an equally insane laugh.

“And just whoooo are you?” He asked.

“Detective Grayson.” He replied.

“Grayson. That sounds tragically familiar.” Joker laughed.

“Put your hands up, behind your head, and get on your knees,” Richard ordered, stepping closer to the clown.

Batman was attending to Robin and Red Hood has his guns trained on Joker.

“Fuck this.” Red Hood said.

In a flash, Batman threw a batarang and hit Red Hood’s and Richard’s guns out of their hands.

“Damn it, Bats!” Red Hood cursed.

While Red Hood fumed, Richard rushed forwards and brought out his escrima sticks. He slammed one down on Joker’s hand, which was reached for a gun, and then brought his other down onto Joker’s elbow, breaking his arm and potentially shattering his elbow. Joker laughed as he fell, which kind of caught Richard off guard. Regardless, Richard bent down and handcuffed the clown. 

“I get you don’t kill, but disarming us could have let Joker escape. Think next time,” Richard growled. 

“Damn. The cop can get physical and talks back. I like it.” Red Hood commented.

“A new player is always fun,” Joker said then laughed. “You’ll be my new toy!”

“How’s the kid?” Richard asked as he brought Joker up to stand.

“Broken ribs, bloody nose, cut to the cheek, he’ll have some major bruising, but he should be fine in a few weeks,” Batman responded.

Richard sighed and cursed his good, kind nature.

“Two minutes.” He said.

Red Hood cocked his head to the right.

“I’ll give you two minutes to get out of here and clear any evidence of you being here.” Richard clarified. 

Batman, Robin, and Red Hood stared at him. Richard stared back.

“Huh, the guy can handle our stares. He’s a natural bat.” Red Hood smirked.

“You have an injured partner. I suggest you get him medical attention quickly.” Richard replied, shaking his hair out of his face as he held Joker.

“You’re not so bad after all, Kid.” Red Hood said as he walked out the room.

“I’m 22 years old! You’re like what? 18?!” Richard yelled after him.

“20 actually,” Robin answered as he and Batman walked out.

Richard huffed.

“Whatever.” He said and began walking Joker out of the building.

“You know, my Harls would like you. Lean but muscular body, nice face. She’d like you very much.” Joker said.

Richard shivered.  _ That’s not a good thought. _

“Sorry, not interested,” Richard replied.

“Oh no, not like that.” Joker laughed. “She’d like you as a plaything, and to be honest so would I!” 

Richard shoved Joker into a wall.

“I’m not someone to be played with.” He growled.

“Ooooh, you’re just like Batman, just not as serious! You’re going to be very fun!” Joker replied.

Richard man-handled Joker all the way outside and shoved him into the back of a police car. 

“Damn good job.” Gordon appraised.

“Thank you, Commissioner,” Richard replied with a nod.

“You going back to the precinct?” Gordon asked as he fell into step with Richard.

“Yeah, I was going to write my report then go to my room and sleep,” Richard replied.

“No dinner?” Gordon asked.

Richard rubbed the back of his neck.

“No…” He said.

“I’ll bring you something,” Gordon said as he turned. “Go on ahead to the precinct. I’ll meet you there with food.” 

“Thanks, man,” Richard said, completely dropping his politeness. 

He straddled his bike and put on his helmet. With a nod to the Commissioner, he drove off. He arrived at the precinct and parked. He walked inside, got a report form, and realized that he didn’t have a desk.

“Shit.” He cursed.

Feeling that he and Gordon were on friendly enough terms, he walked into the Commissioner’s office and sat down. He grabbed one of the pens at the man’s desk and began to write his report. He left out the part where he gave the vigilantes two minutes to leave and just said that when he turned around, they were gone. He heard they tended to do that, so people would believe the small lie. As he was finishing, Gordon walked in with a burger and fries and set them in front of Richard. 

“Dinner,” Gordon said as he sat down in a seat in front of his desk.

“Thanks.” He said and finished his report.

He got up to move into the seat next to Gordon.

“No, no. You can stay there.” Gordon replied.

“...but it’s your desk,” Richard responded.

“Yes, it is.” Gordon nodded.

Richard sat back down.

“Are you sure?” Richard asked.

“Yes, now eat,” Gordon said sternly.

“Alright,” Richard said.

The two officers sat in silence. Gordon watched as Richard devoured the burger and fries.

“Oh, tomorrow, Wayne’s having a party in honor of Gotham’s Children. You don’t have to go, but Wayne and I want you there. It’ll be good for you to get acquainted with the Waynes.” Gordon said.

“Where did that term even come from? Gotham’s Children.” Richard asked.

“Gothamites just started calling kids with tragic pasts that because Gotham isn’t nice,” Gordon answered.

Richard sighed. 

“I have to go back to my apartment, get some clothes.” He muttered.

“The suit at your room isn’t yours?” Gordon asked.

“...What?” Richard asked.

“Alfred delivered a suit to your hotel room,” Gordon said.

“Wha...How do you know? I haven’t even been to my room!” Richard replied.

“Wayne told me. Said he bought a suit for ‘the detective of two cities’.” Gordon replied.

Richard leaned back.

“Then I guess I’m going to Wayne’s party,” Richard replied.


	3. Gala

After a day of petty crime and research on Batman, Richard inserted the key into the door and opened it. On the hotel bed laid a tux, still on the hanger. Richard had moved it from the laundry rack near the bathroom to the bed before he left for the precinct that morning.

“Damn,” Richard said as he looked at it for the first time.

The tux consisted of black pants, a black jacket, a red shirt, a black tie, and a black vest. It was made of high-quality fabric too.  _ Must’ve been a whole paycheck...well one of my paychecks.  _ He noticed a white envelope on the nightstand. On the front, in neat cursive was Detective Grayson. Richard walked over, picked it up, and opened it.

_ Mr. Grayson, Jim Gordon filled me in on your arrangement, so I thought I’d relieve you of the hassle of going all the way back to Bludhaven for clothes. In the closet, there are clothes ranging from casual to formal and all are in your size. Alfred suggested the suit on the bed for the party.  _

_ Until then, Bruce Wayne. _

_ I do hope you will attend. _

Richard dropped the letter onto the bed and went over to the closet. He opened it and stood, flabbergasted. Just as the letter said, the closet was filled with clothes all in his size. Richard ran a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh.

“How the hell will I pay him back?!” He said to himself.

Deciding to forget that for now, Richard went over the bed, grabbed the suit, and changed. Richard knew he looked good in blue and black, but, damn, did he look good in red and black. He fixed his hair, grabbed his keys, wallet, gun, escrima sticks, and badge, then left the hotel room. As he approached his motorcycle and car honked at him. Turning his head, he noticed it was Gordon. The Commissioner was waving him over. Sighing, Richard walked over to the driver side window as Gordon rolled it down.

“Get in.” The man said.

“What? Why?” Richard asked.

“You only have a motorcycle, right?” Gordon asked.

“Here, yeah,” Richard answered.

“You want to wind whip that nice suit of yours?” Gordon asked.

“...Damn it. Fine.” Richard said and went over to the passenger's side and got in.

“That’s a really nice suit. That the one Wayne bought?” Gordon questioned as he pulled out of the hotel parking lot.

“Yeah. The guy even bought me clothes saying he did it so I didn’t have to go through the hassle of going back to Bludhaven for clothes.” Richard grumbled.

“Wow, he must have taken a liking to you.” Gordon laughed.

_ A liking or he’s trying to bribe me to drop the Batman case.  _

“Kind of wish he didn’t. How the hell am I supposed to pay Wayne back?” Richard said, frustrated.

Gordon laughed.

“You don’t. Even if you somehow got the money, Wayne wouldn’t take it. He gave me a car, fully paid for, for my 38th birthday, and I tried to pay him back. When I finally got enough money, he wouldn’t take it.” Gordon said.

“ A  _ car? _ Just how much money does this guy have to just give away cars fully paid off?!” Richard asked.

“He is a billionaire,” Gordon replied as they turned into Wayne’s drive-way.

The party was already in full swing. Women in fancy dresses and men in nice suits were filing into the manor. The servers at the door were handing out drinks, and the valet drivers were quickly grabbing keys, getting into cars, and driving off to the parking area.

“Shit, with all that money, I’d do things that helped out Gotham,” Richard said.

“He contributes to charities and things like that around Gotham,” Gordon said.

Both detectives opened their doors and got out. Gordon handed his keys to the valet and started walking to the door.  _ Well, a quick get-away is slim if things go sideways.  _ A man opened the door for them, and they went inside the mansion. Richard knew Wayne knew how to party, but this wasn’t what he expected. For some reason, Richard thought there would be dancers, drinks all around, and loud music. Instead, there was a singer on a stage, servers with fancy foods and champagne, and the music the singer had accompanying her wasn’t loud. 

“This how it usually is?” Richard muttered to Gordon as he took a champagne glass and nodded to the server.

“Hell no. Wayne’s parties are usually loud with a lot of drinks, but this is for children, so none of that today.” Gordon answered.

Richard hummed in response.

Gordon told Richard he was going to talk to someone and left the detective to roam around the room full of strangers. Richard had been walking around for a while before he saw Jason Todd, in a white shirt with a black vest, black tie, and black pants, and Tim Drake, in a regular suit, leaning against the wall with another male teenager. The unknown teen had red hair, serious expression, and a black suit on and a light green button up instead of a white one. Jason noticed him and waved him over. Richard smiled before walking over.

“Evening, gentlemen.” Richard greeted.

“Hello, Mr. Detective,” Jason replied.

Tim nodded in recognition.

Richard turned to the other teen and stuck out his hand.

“Detective Richard Grayson. Nice to meet you.” He said with a smile.

“Roy Harper. You look a little young to be a detective.” Roy replied.

“Just got promoted, and I’m 22 years old,” Richard responded.

“Just old enough to drink, huh. None of us are old enough.” Jason commented.

“How old are all of you anyway?” Richard asked.

“20,” Jason said.

“I’m 15,” Tim replied.

“I turn 21 in a few weeks,” Roy answered.

Richard smiled at Roy.

“Maybe I’ll take you guys drinking sometime.” He said to Jason and Roy.

“I still have a few months until I’m 21,” Jason replied.

“I can wait. When’s your birthday?” Richard asked.

“August 16th,” Jason answered.

“November 1st,” Roy said.

“July 19th,” Tim commented.

“A few weeks? It’s October 9th. You have three weeks.” Richard said.

“A few, three, same difference,” Roy replied.

“Grayson!” A voice called from behind him.

Richard turned to see Gordon with another man in a suit.

“It seems you’re being summoned,” Tim said.

Richard laughed.

“Yeah, I’ll see you guys around,” Richard said over his shoulder as he turned to walk to Gordon.

“Gordon,” Richard said with a nod.

“Detective Grayson, this is Mayor Anthony Garcia.” Gordon introduced.

Richard put his hand out for a handshake.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Richard said.

“Likewise,” Garcia said as he shook Richard’s hand.

The conversation was cut short as Bruce Wayne tapped the microphone to get everyone’s attention. The billionaire was wearing a regular tux but had on a bow instead of a tie.  _ He’s not as dressed up as I am.  _ Richard looked down at the motorcycle boots he had on.  _ Well...still not as nice. _

“Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. We are here today to celebrate Gotham’s Children and the orphanages that help them. As you’ve noticed, there are tables set up around the room where you can donate to an orphanage. Before we get started in spending all our money, I would like to announce that I am donating 10 thousand dollars to Gotham’s New Hope Orphanage.” Wayne said receiving applause. “Allow me to call to the stage Detective Richard Grayson, an officer raised at New Hope. Richard?”

“Aw shit,” Richard muttered under his breath.

Giving a small smile and wave, he walked up onto the stage and took the microphone from Bruce, who gave him a pat on the back. Richard cleared his throat.

“Thank you, Mr. Wayne.” He began. “As you know, I was raised at New Hope after my parents”  _ were murdered. _ His hand started shaking. “died. New Hope helped me cope and helped make me the man I am today, so I’m thankful for that.” Richard said, leaving out the bad parts of New Hope.

He went on about how ‘great’ New Hope was and how it really ‘helped’ him. Before he made a fool of himself, Bruce was back on stage.

“Let’s give the detective a round of applause.” He shouted.

Just as he said, the room was filled with claps. Richard gave an awkward smile as he left the stage. He could put on a show; he just couldn’t talk in front of people.

“Glad you came, Detective,” Bruce said with a smile.

“Yeah, well had I known I was going to talk in front of an audience, I wouldn’t of,” Richard said.

Bruce laughed before getting serious.

“You lied about New Hope,” Bruce said. “Why?”

“Well, I can’t just let children get kicked out onto the street because of something I said, even if true. How do you know I lied anyway?” Richard asked.

“Your hand, and I know someone who was there for a short time,” Bruce answered.

“You noticed my hand shakes a little when I lie?” Richard questioned.

“I’m a businessman. I have to know when people are lying.” Wayne replied.

“...Right, yeah.” Richard said.

“Tim told me you talked to him, Jason, and Queen’s ward, Roy.” Bruce changed the subject.

“Yeah, saw them all huddled near the wall, decided to crash the party,” Richard responded.

“Thank you. Not many people talk to the boys.” Bruce said, guiding Richard through the crowd. “Let me introduce you to Oliver Queen.”

Richard knew who Oliver Queen was, the billionaire from Star City. Said billionaire had his arms wrapped around two lovely women, laughing. 

“Oliver,” Bruce said a bit loudly.

“Bruce Wayne! How are ya?” Oliver replied, retracting his arms and stepping over.

“Good. I’m good. This is Detective Richard Grayson.” Bruce replied.

“Hi! Oliver Queen. Nice to meet you.” Oliver said and outreached his hand.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Queen,” Richard replied shaking his hand.

“I heard you talked to Roy,” Oliver said.

_ Why is that so important to these two? _

“Uh, yes, yes I did,” Richard replied with a smile. “I said I’d take him and Jason out drinking when they turned 21.” 

Oliver grinned.

“I like you.” He smiled.

Richard laughed.

“I’m glad.” He said.

A hand laid on his shoulder.

“Forgive me for intruding, I’m Clark Kent, a reporter for Daily Planet. I’d like to ask you a few questions.” A man, Clark, with glasses and a suit said.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Richard said.

Oliver left with the women, and Bruce made his escape as well.

“Excuse me, I have to find Alfred, but feel free to find me after the interview. I’ll introduce you to Lex Luthor.” Bruce said with a smile.

“Yeah, ok.” Richard nodded before turning his attention to Clark.

“So, Detective Grayson, I’ve heard that you’re a Bludhaven officer who’s a genius. Can you tell me why you’re being split between Gotham and Bludhaven?” Clark began.

_ Gordon didn’t tell me to keep the Batman thing on the down low, but I feel like I should.  _

“I’m here to help,” Richard replied vaguely.

“Can you be any more specific?” Kent asked.

“Sorry, no,” Richard answered.

“Can you tell me about your solo arrest of the Joker?” Clark questioned.

“I went in, worked with the Batman, saved hostages, got the bad guy. Nothing too interesting.” Richard replied.

“I’m sorry. Did you say you worked with the Batman?” Clark asked.

“And Red Hood, yes,” Richard responded.

“Can you go into detail with that?” Kent questioned.

“Sure. They were creeping around in the dark and I saw them. I noticed Robin was in danger and offered to help them out. We made a plan and caught Joker.” Grayson summed up.

“Okay, now back to why you’re here. Can you tell me if it has anything to do with the Bat trio?” Clark asked.

“Afraid not, but I will get back to you if I have information I can share.” Richard offered. 

_ Maybe I can strike a deal with him.  _

“Are proposing a deal, Detective Grayson?” Kent asked.

“If we trade information for information then yes.” He answered.

Kent stuck out his hand. Richard shook it.

“It seems we have a deal,” Clark said.

“You made a deal, Kent?” A woman said from behind Clark.

“Lois Lane, meet Detective Richard Grayson.” Clark introduced.

Lois had black hair and wore a long red dress. 

“Hi.” She said.

“Evening.” Richard nodded.

“So this deal?” She asked.

“Information for information,” Clark explained.

Lois nodded and smiled at Clark.

“Well, I promised Mr. Wayne I would find him after the interview, so I’ll leave you two alone.” He said with a suggestive grin.

Richard turned and scanned the crowd for Wayne. He saw the man talking to Mr. Queen and the three boys. He started navigating the crowd towards them. He was a little ways away as he strained to hear them talk.

“...think he’ll get close?” Roy asked.

“He’s smart,” Tim commented.

“We’ve protected them effectively. It’ll be tough.” Bruce said with an uncharacteristic tone.

“Hey, Mr. Wayne,” Richard said from right behind him.

All head snapped towards him and he swears he saw some hands form into fists before relaxing, realizing it was just him.

“Mr. Grayson, you’re done with the interview, I take it,” Bruce said.

“Yeah, you said you wanted to introduce me to someone.” Richard reminded.

“Oh, yes. Come along.” Bruce nodded and started walking through the crowd. 

Behind them, the other four talked.

“Damn guy sneaked up on us. I’m telling you. He’s a natural… Let’s...the fold.” Jason said.

Richard couldn’t make out everything he said.

Wayne stopped as he reached a bald man in a suit.

“Lex Luthor, meet Detective Richard Grayson,” Bruce said.

“Hello,” Lex said and shook Richard’s hand.

“...Hi,” Richard replied.

“Mr. Luthor, would you mind answering some questions?” Lois said from behind Luthor.

“Reporters, let’s go,” Bruce said quickly and pulled Richard away.

_ Luthor gives me a weird vibe.  _

“Something wrong?” Bruce asked.

_ Just everyone hiding what they really are.  _

“No.” Richard smiled. 


	4. Dangerous Beginnings

Richard stayed near the Waynes for the rest of the night. However, Clark Kent, Oliver Queen, and Roy Harper were never far. Keeping an eye on him, it seemed.  _ Weird.  _ The party started dying down, and people began to leave. Richard stayed behind to make sure nothing happened that would endanger anyone. 

“Grayson! You’re so smart! And handsome! You need to meet a girl and have fun.” A drunk Jim Gordon said.

Jason and Tim laughed at the older cop.

“How much did you drink?” Richard asked.

“I lost count.” Jim slurred. “I’mma go home.” 

Gordon took out his keys and began walking for the door. Richard grabbed him by the shoulder and waist and lead him back to a table then took his keys and gun. 

“You’re not fit to drive.” He said sternly.

“You gonna drive me?” Jim slurred out the question.

“Yes…” Richard replied. 

_ Shit, I don’t know where he lives and I don’t drive cars often.  _ He slumped a little at this revolution.

“Would you like me to drive him home, sir?” A British voice said from behind him.

Richard turned to see Alfred.

“Alfred, thank god for British war veterans turned butlers! Please do...I don’t know where he lives, but I need a ride home later tonight. I planned on leaving after everything was wrapped up…” Richard said.

“You can stay here. We’ve got plenty of rooms.” Jason entered the conversation.

“Well...I-” Richard began to make an excuse.

“Yeah, Grayson. Stay, we have plenty of room.” Tim commented.

Richard saw Bruce, behind Tim, give the boys a look that revealed his displeasure with the suggestion.

“I don’t think I should. I don’t want to intrude.” Richard tried to reason.

“It’s just one night.” Tim pleaded.

“It’s fine, Detective. You can stay.” Bruce said from behind the boys.

“Even Bruce says you can stay, and whatever Bruce says goes,” Jason said.

“A-Alright, I guess, but I don’t have any clothes other than what’s on me,” Richard replied.

“You can borrow some of my clothes or Bruce’s clothes,” Jason responded.

“Come on, I’ll get you some stuff. I want to get out of this suit.” Jason said as he led Richard upstairs.

Richard laughed.

“I do want to change, but this suit is damn nice. I could never afford something like this.” He said.

“Neither could I before Bruce took me in,” Jason replied as he opened the door to his bedroom.

Jason’s room fit him. The walls were dark grey, the bed had black blankets and pillows, the dresser was dark mahogany. Clothes were strewn around everywhere and his desk was piled with papers. 

“Speaking of that, I thought Bruce legally only had one ward, Tim Drake,” Richard said.

“I don’t want to be legally tied to Bruce,” Jason responded and threw grey sweatpants and a black shirt at Richard.

“Oh, that’s understandable, I guess,” Richard replied, awkwardly holding the bundle of clothes.

“There’s a spare bedroom two doors down on the right. You can change in there and use it.” Jason said as he got his own clothes to change into.

“Okay, thanks.” Richard turned to leave.

Behind him, Jason took off his shirt. As Richard turned around the close the door, he saw the scars littering Jason’s torso.  _ Damn, I have a few of my own, but nothing like that. Where did he get those?  _ Deciding not the bring it up, Richard quietly closed the door and walked to the spare bedroom Jason talked about. Opening and then closing the door, he didn’t hear the front door open or Alfred’s distressed yell. As Richard changed, he thought about how peculiar the Wayne ‘family’ was. Interesting they were, but they were oddly close.  _ It’s really sweet.  _ Richard got done changing and was alerted to the situation downstairs by rapid footsteps coming up the stairs, and Tim crashing into the room and slamming the door shut behind him. Tim leaned against the door. Richard looked at him. The teen had a bruise forming on his cheek and a small cut.

“Were you pistol-whipped?! What happened?” Richard quickly questioned as he went over and gently inspected Tim’s face.

“Joker’s downstairs looking for you,” Tim said seriously.

“Fuck, Joker. What happened? How’d you get away?” Richard asked.

“Alfred opened the door, Joker hit him and dragged him inside, with Joker came his crew. They got Jason, but he put up a fight. I ran upstairs to get away. I-I think Bruce is in the study on the other side of the hallway.” Tim said calmly, toward the end worry seeped into his tone.

Richard took a quick inventory of what he had on him.  _ My bad guy beaters, two guns, badge, and phone. Phone!  _ Richard took out his phone. It had 1%.  _ Shit, that won’t last for a call.  _

“Do you have a phone on you?” Richard asked Tim.

Tim groped himself looking for a phone. He shook his head.

“Okay, you come with me to the study. If Bruce is there, I’m going to give him one of my guns, and you’re going to stay with him. Okay?” Richard explained.

Tim nodded.

“Alright let’s go,” Richard ordered.

Richard walked to the door, his footsteps quieting as he approached the door until they were completely silent. Tim was impressed, usually no police officer could be remotely quiet. Richard motioned for Tim to follow as he opened the door. The hinge squeaked a little, but Richard led Tim out of the room and began walking down the hall.  _ Tim’s footsteps are extremely quiet. That’s abnormal for a teenager.  _ For some reason, the image of Robin appeared in his mind, and he began pointing out similarities.  _ There are way too many similarities between Robin and Tim Drake. _ Deciding to dwell on it later, Richard pointed to the door at the end of the hall and looked at Tim. The teen nodded. Richard increased his speed but stayed quiet. Again, Tim was impressed and believed that Jason was right. Richard Grayson was a natural bat. Richard opened the door and nodded for Tim to go in first. As Tim snuck in, he noticed the wall clock sliding back into place and panicked until the clock stopped moving. Tim moved aside and let Richard in, who looked at the clock then at Tim with a confused look.

“Why were you staring at the clock?” He whispered.

“It’s not working.” Tim excused.

Richard looked at him weirdly. Tim straightened up to stand but flinched. He did have bruised ribs. Richard took note of the well-hidden flinch.

“Well, Bruce isn’t here, so here’s the plan. You’re going to stay on this floor and hide out, provide support here and there, but that’s it. Just support. Don’t try to be a hero. If things get crazy, I want you to bail. Okay?” Richard said.

“Okay.” Tim nodded.

“Do you know how to use a gun?” Richard asked.

Tim gave a hesitant nod.  _ That’s not convincing.  _ Richard took out Gordon’s gun and gave it to Tim.

“Show me what the parts are,” Richard said.

“Safety” Tim pointed at it, “Trigger, finger on it only when ready to shoot.” 

He ejected the magazine. 

“Fully loaded. I know how to use a gun. I just never killed anyone with it.” Tim sassed.

“Hopefully you won’t have to. But, well, if you don’t shoot to kill anyone who isn’t me, Bruce, Jason, or Alfred, you’re dead. Or worse, tortured. This is the Joker we’re talking about.” Richard warned.

“I know,” Tim said.

It kind of seemed like Tim had a hidden meaning behind that, but Richard didn’t push it. 

“Okay. I’m going to leave now. I’ll knock eight times if you’re safe and can open the door, okay?” Richard informed.

Tim nodded. Richard went over to the door and brought his gun out.

“Lock the door when I leave,” Richard commanded.

Richard quickly opened the door, left, and closed it. He heard the lock click. Richard crept down the hallway with his gun raised. He quietly made his way down the stairs and swept his gun from left to right then right to left, repeatedly. He could hear Jason sassing the thugs Joker had with him.  _ Only that kid would have the balls to sass the people who have killed people.  _ Richard could also hear Joker singing his name. Then, behind him, a hand grabbed him by the waist and a hand went over his mouth. Richard fought hard to get away but to no avail.  He was dragged into the dark room before being let go. Richard spun around and raised his gun. 

“I have a plan.” A stoic voice said.

“Fucking Batman?!” Richard whisper-yelled, “Why the hell are you creeping around Wayne Manor?! And instead of being kidnapped, couldn’t you be normal and say, ‘hey detective, over here!’ or some shit? I nearly had a heart attack!” 

Richard swore he saw the emotionless Batman smirk at him.

“I dress in a bat suit and you think I’m normal?” Batman replied.

“Benefit of the doubt. Now, what’s this plan you mentioned?” Richard asked.

“You’re going to go to Joker and-” Batman started.

“Are you insane? That clown is hunting me down!” Richard whisper yelled again.

“He won’t kill you. He thinks of you as another me. Something entertaining enough to have as a rival. He views this as a game. Now, you’re going to find him and distract him. I’ll get R-Jason Todd. Robin should be around, he’s been given orders to provide support.” Batman said.

Richard recalled what he told Tim.  _ Provide support. Just support. Don’t try to be a hero.  _

“Is Tim Drake the boy behind Robin’s mask?” Richard asked.

Batman didn’t respond, but opened the door and shoved Richard out. Richard turned around only to find Batman gone.

“Damn it.” He cursed.

Richard listened for Joker’s singing. He raised his gun before moving again. He stopped outside the kitchen. He could hear Joker inside the room. Steeling himself, he walked into the room, gun raised. Joker turned towards him. The crazed man’s arm looked fine.  _ How the hell…? _

“Richard Grayson! Nice to see you again! Why don’t you put that down? I’m just here to talk.” Joker said.

Richard stayed alert and quiet, keeping his gun raised and eyes on Joker. Jason was in the room behind Joker. Harley was bent over him tugging at the white section of the teen's hair. Richard felt the urge to shoot Joker and Harley in the leg.  _ Batman will handle Jason.  _

“You know, you were famous. Your family was very famous” Joker laughed. “When they went splat!” 

Richard felt a surge of anger.

“I will shoot you,” Richard said through gritted teeth.

“Ooooh is that anger I see on that handsome face?” Harley walked into the kitchen with a smile.

“Puddin’ it’s not nice to antagonize quests.” She giggled.

Richard saw movement behind Harley. Batman was quietly, expertly taking down the thugs guarding Jason.   _ Damn, he’s good.  _ Harley stepped forwards and went to cup Richard’s face. Dick quickly moved back and trained his gun on Harley. 

“Step back.” He growled.

She did. 

“What do you want with me?” Richard questioned.

“Me? Nothing.” She smirked. 

“Bullshit,” Richard growled.

Harley and Joker laughed.  _ That’s not good.  _ Behind them, Batman and Jason were gone. Robin was nowhere to be seen.  _ Shit.  _

“You’re right.” Joker laughed.

“We need a new toy. Something to play mind games with.” Harley giggled.

“And you, Detective Grayson, have a lot of buttons to push. We just happen to know some of them.” Joker laughed.

A bag was shoved over his head. Richard felt himself being dragged away.  _ Shitshitshitshit. _ Dick reached into his jacket and got one of his escrima stick.

“Bet you didn’t know this, bitch!” Richard yelled.

Richard put the end of his escrima stick on his attacker's leg and pressed the side button. Electricity coursed through both him and his attacker. His attacker couldn’t handle the shock and let go. Richard yanked the bag off his head just as Joker lunged at him with a knife.


	5. Medical Emergencies

 

Richard’s eyes widened as he realized Joker had a knife.  _ I won’t be able to block him!  _ Richard dodged the blade but just barely. The blade nicked him and cut through his jacket and part of the black shirt Jason gave him. Joker lunged passed him, turned around, and went to attack Richard again.  _ Joker’s way faster than I expected!  _ Richard immediately brought his escrima stick up to clash with Joker’s knife. Joker brought up a fist, but Richard caught it and twisted it down. A small crack was heard, but Joker just cackled loudly. A thug came up from behind Richard.  _ I’m still locked with Joker, damn it!  _ Richard kicked his legs up and used the thug to kick himself up and over Joker, still having his escrima stick clashing with Joker’s knife. 

“Oh, Detective, very nice reflexes, and that body’s capabilities are wonderful!” Joker said and laughed.

“But you aren’t paying attention to your surroundings.” Harley’s voice giggled in his ear.

A sharp pain stabbed into his side. Richard’s eyes widened, and he yelped in pain.  _ Fuck, when did she get there?!  _ He looked down to see the hilt of a blade flush against his skin. Richard then saw his gun on the floor, along with a couple of droplets of blood. Richard felt Harley drag the blade out of his side. He groaned. 

“And you...are underestimating me!” Richard growled.

In a flash, Richard dove to the floor, grabbed his gun, and raised it to Joker, who had his knife above his head, ready to plunge it down into Richard’s chest. 

“Which do you think is faster, my finger on this trigger or your whole body and that knife?” Richard growled.

He was aware of the puddle of blood slowly forming underneath his right side. A bullet ripped through the air and shot through Harley’s upper arm. Richard pulled his trigger and shot Joker in the leg. Both criminals made a sound of pain and fell.

“You missed.” Red Hood said.

“I never miss.” Richard huffed.

Red Hood came into the room, Batman standing behind him.

“How long... have you two been there?” Richard huffed. 

The two vigilantes knelt down beside Richard and Batman applied pressure to the wound. Richard hissed at pressure.

“From the moment you and Joker started fighting. The shock from the stab wound.” Red Hood said.

“Or blood loss, the knife went all the way in, up to the hilt,” Batman replied.

“Robin called me, sir- Oh my, Detective!” Alfred’s British voice exclaimed.

The butler rushed over to the fallen detective and shooed Batman’s hands away.

“Make sure he stays awake,” Alfred ordered.

Red Hood came into view and looked at him.

“How are you doing, Detective?” Red Hood asked.

“Where are... Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd? Are they okay?” Richard asked.

_ Damn, it’s getting harder and harder to stay awake. _

“Not going to ask about the youngest of the Waynes? Harsh detective.” Red Hood replied.

“Tim Drake... is…” Richard trailed off as his eyes began to close.

“Hey...Hey! No! Grayson, you need to stay awake! Bruce, call 911, now!” Red Hood yelled.

Joker was laughing and Harley was giggling. Batman had put them in cuffs. As soon as Batman heard Joker and Harley laughing, he stormed over there and knocked them unconscious. Richard was almost unconscious by the time Red Hood said Bruce, but all he heard was Joker’s laugh. Richard felt like laughing. He had survived his parents' deaths, Gotham’s Juvenile Center, New Hope Orphanage, and Bludhaven, but a few days in Gotham and he’s already on the floor dying. Richard finally lost consciousness.

Batman heard Red Hood start to panic as Richard lost consciousness.

* * *

 

“Hey...Hey! No! Grayson, you need to stay awake! Bruce, call 911, now!” Jason yelled.

“Fuck that, we’re taking him to the Watchtower,” Batman said as he put one arm under Richard’s knees and the other under Richard’s upper torso then picked him up.

“What?! He’s a detective! Putting him in the Watchtower risks everyone’s identities! Get him regular help!” Jason protested.

“I know,” Bruce growled in response.

Getting down to the Batcave, Batman rushed over to the zeta tube and went up to the Watchtower. As he sprinted to the medical ward, he rushed passed some of the Leaguers.

“Batman, what’s-” Superman began.

“I need the doctors!” Batman yelled as he burst into the medical ward.

In an instant, doctors swarmed into the room and began working on Richard.

“Stab wound,” Batman told the room then left.

Outside the room, a group of the Leaguers stood with Red Hood.

“Was that the detective from the party?” Superman asked.

“Yeah.” Red Hood replied.

“What the hell happened?” Green Arrow questioned.

“Joker and Harley stormed Wayne Manor and Detective Grayson got caught in the crossfire. Joker was after him, so Grayson went to confront him. They got into a fight. Grayson was holding his ground, but Harley came up behind him and stabbed him. Grayson then dove for his gun and shot Joker in the leg. I shot Harley in the arm, then we went to give medical attention.” Red Hood briefed.

“So why is he here?” Flash asked.

“I don’t fucking know.” Red Hood said. “I said to call 911, but B said they wouldn’t get there in time. I have to get back. Robin’s probably wondering where B and I are.” Red Hood said, turning to leave.

“Do you want us to update you?” Wonder Woman asked.

“Sure, I don’t care,” Jason growled.

The teen stormed out of the room and used the zeta tubes to go back to the Batcave. Entering the cave, Red Hood changed into Jason Todd and went upstairs. Tim and Alfred were talking about what happened while cleaning up the blood puddle on the floor. Tim was still in his Robin uniform, but Alfred had taken his jacket off and rolled up his button up sleeves. Richard’s blood still stained the white sleeves of Alfred’s shirt. Jason sighed and grabbed a towel, dipping it into the hot water and getting on his knees to help clean the blood up. Jason scrubbed furiously. Tim and Alfred exchanged a look before Timm looked at Jason.

“How’s Richard?” Tim asked.

“I don’t know. He’s in the medical ward up in the Watchtower.” Jason answered.

“And why does that make you angry, Master Jason?” Alfred asked as he scrubbed.

“Bruce’s getting, I don’t know, attached, careless with this guy. He brought a DETECTIVE up to the Watchtower! Doesn’t he realize he’s just helping Grayson with his case? Or does he even care that there’s a genius detective trying to figure us out?” Jason vented.

“Just trust in Master Bruce’s decisions. I’m sure he’s thought about the aftereffects.” Alfred sighed. “But I do agree that the Master of the House is getting a bit careless with the detective.” 

“I think it’s because they’re one and the same,” Tim muttered as he scrubbed.

“The fuck? One and the same?? What’s that supposed to mean?!” Jason growled.

“I did a little digging when I heard what the detective was trying to do. Richard John Grayson witnessed his parents death at 10 years old, was thrown into Gotham’s Juvenile Center for a year, taken in by New Hope for 2 years, but then he disappeared one night. He reappeared in Bludhaven at 15 years old. That’s 2 years unaccounted for, and there’s nothing that gives any hints of where he was, so where was he for those 2 years?” Tim explained.

“I don’t know, but you didn’t explain how that means he’s the same as Bruce,” Jason said.

Tim sighed.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Tim said, looking at Jason out of the corner of his eye.

“No, it’s not,” Jason growled.

“Bruce saw his parents murdered, but he had Alfred. Bruce thinks of Richard as what he could’ve been. Besides, Bruce has gone missing for a year or two, even though we know what happened in those periods of time.” Tim explained.

“So, you’re saying Bruce likes this guy because he’s him without Alfred.” Jason dumbed down.

Tim sighed.

“Basically, yes.” He said.

Silence settled as the trio scrubbed the blood off the floor. Most of it was gone, but they wanted to get it all off, even the pink tint. Once the floor was scrubbed to its original color, Alfred announced that he was retiring and went to his room. Tim and Jason went into the living room and sat on the couch to watch a movie. They would have to go on patrol soon, without Batman if they had to. 

“...So where do you think Goodie Two Shoes was for those two years?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know, but his reflexes are not a cop’s reflexes, and I don’t know any cops who use escrima sticks other than Grayson,” Tim replied.

“Did you see that move? The one he did to flip over Joker. Grayson didn’t even lose contact with Joker’s knife.” Jason said in awe.

“Definitely not in a detective training. More like a vigilantes training.” Tim responded.

“He said he never missed,” Jason said, his eyes on the TV.

“What?” Tim asked.

“I assumed he missed Joker’s artery, so I said you missed, but Grayson said ‘I never miss’,” Jason explained.

“I’ve checked his stats. He hasn’t missed a shot.” Tim responded.

“Not one?” Jason responded.

“He has a 94% accuracy. He’s missed some, but not as much as the average officer.” Tim answered. “And from what I’ve seen, he practices his shooting every day. It’s probably around a 98% accuracy now.” 

Silence fell between them. They exchanged a glance.

“...You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” Jason asked.

“If you’re thinking of sneaking into the Watchtower and interrogating Grayson, then yes,” Tim answered.

Jason grinned at him.

“You know me well,” Jason said.

Tim grinned and they both sprinted down to the Batcave. Jason quickly changed, Tim was already in his uniform, and then he and Tim went up to the Watchtower. The two bats snuck passed the mission room where Martian Manhunter and a couple of other regulars of the Watchtower were. The walked quietly into the medical ward and went into Grayson’s room. The heart monitor beeped rhythmically and Grayson had an IV hooked to him. All the lights were off except for the light above Richard’s bed. They had changed him into a medical gown and put his, technically Jason’s, bloodied clothes in a bag on the table. Tim stepped forward and placed a hand on Richard’s mouth. His hand went to Richard’s nose, Jason grabbed it.

“What are you doing?!” Red Hood whisper yelled.

“Suffocating him until he wakes up.” Robin said with a ‘duh’ tone.

“He’ll freak out.” Red Hood whispered.

“That’s why you’re here,” Robin said with the same tone.

Suddenly, they both got the feeling of being watched. They both looked at Richard, whose eyes were closed. Red Hood looked at Robin.

“Fuck.” He whispered.

Both of them looked to the window of the room and saw the intimidating silhouette of Batman. 

“What are you two doing?” Batman growled.

“Well…” Jason started.

“We wanted to ask Grayson something…” Tim filled in.

“Ask him about?” Batman growled.

Red Hood and Robin exchanged a glance. Jason knew it was his turn to answer.

“...About the two years, he went missing…” Red Hood responded.

Batman sighed.

“Alright.” He said.

Jason and Tim were stunned.

“...what?” Tim said.

“Go ahead. I planned to ask him when he woke up, but seeing as you two are here and ready to ask, you can do it.” Batman replied.

“Really?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, but just so you know, both of you are off patrol for tonight,” Batman smirked as he left.

The two bats sighed. 

“Ooooh, of patrol, huh. Guess suffocating me wasn’t the best option.” Richard’s tired voice came from the bed.

“Y-You’re awake!” Red Hood said.

“Just for the last part,” Richard said.

Tim cleared his throat.

“We’d like to ask you a few questions.” He said.

Richard pushed himself into a sitting position.

“Sure.” He said.

“You were missing for two years. Where were you in that time period?” Tim asking with a professional tone.

Richard look at him.  _ How the hell…?  _

“And, just how do you know about that, Drake?” Richard asked with calculating eyes.

Robin stiffened.

“Ah, so you are Tim Drake. Interesting. That makes Red Hood Jason Todd and Batman Bruce Wayne.” Richard deduced. 

The two bats looked at each other and sighed before taking their masks off.  _ Indeed, I was right.  _

“You still don’t have any physical evidence. Anyway, those two years, where were you?” Jason growled.

“With Deathstroke the Terminator and William Cobb,” Richard answered.

Jason scoffed.

“No bullshit. Where were you?” Jason growled again.

“I just told you,” Richard smirked. 

“What were you doing with Deathstroke?” Tim asked.

“The mercenary was a much better option than anything I had.”

“Who’s William Cobb?” Tim asked.

“Uncle,” Richard said curtly.

“Why the hell did you go to the Juvenile Center then?” Jason asked.

“I didn’t know I had anymore family,” Richard answered.

“Does that mean Cobb is a bad guy?” Tim asked.

“Of sorts,” Richard answered.

“What does he do?” Tim asked.

“That I can’t tell you.” Richard grinned.

“I’ll call Martian Manhunter in here to dig around in your head if you don’t tell us,” Jason warned.

Richard laughed.

“Try me.”


	6. Discussions Discussions

When Batman walked with Martian Manhunter, he noticed the change in the detective. Before he was a snarky, fun, good guy, but now he was giving off an ‘I know a lot of things you don’t’ vibe and was acting very...evil. Richard seemed like he had flipped a switch.

“What’s going on? I assume it’s something important.” Batman said to his two sons...unmasked sons.

“Why are your masks off?” He growled.

“Relax, he figured it out already,” Jason said.

“Bruce, how nice of you to join us. I see you brought Martian Manhunter along with you.” Richard said with a grin.

Batman looked at him, then at his two sons, before taking his cowl off revealing the face of Bruce Wayne. Martian Manhunter looked at the three bats in surprise.

“How’d you figure it out?” He asked.

“It actually a wonder no one else has. Kind of like how people do not know Clark Kent is Superman and Oliver Queen is Green Arrow.” Richard answered.

“...So why am I here?” Martian Manhunter questioned.

“Todd and Drake think you can get in my head and look at the time I was missing,” Richard answered for the bats.

Silence fell over them. Richard looked confident and cocky. It threw Manhunter off. 

“I most likely can.” Martian Manhunter said.

Richard laughed.

“As I said before, try me,” Richard smirked.

Martian Manhunter looked at Bruce before walking over to Richard and making eye contact. 

“Prepare yourself.” He said.

“You should be the one preparing yourself,” Richard said, smirking.

Martian Manhunter went into Richard’s mind. He saw memories of the time with the bats, but it seemed shown like Richard wanted him to see this. He went deeper inside the detective's mind. Memories of working long nights trying to close cases and do something good in life filled the detective’s mind, but it still had that feeling of being purposely shown. Martian Manhunter tried to deviate from the shown path only to find nothing. He noticed a huge gap in time. The detective’s memories skipped from a few years ago to back when Richard was in New Hope. Martian Manhunter searched for a memory from the gap in time but came up with nothing. Deciding to withdraw from Richard’s mind, Martian Manhunter opened his eyes. 

“There is a large gap in his memories. He either does not remember or he’s been trained to deal with mind readers.” Martian Manhunter said.

“How large of a gap?” Tim asked 

“I cannot say for certain, but about three years.” Martian Manhunter answered.

“But Richard went missing for two years, not three,” Jason said.

“I was estimating.” Martian Manhunter defended.

“Truth is, I don’t remember anything from that time, but I do remember spending time with a man who claimed he was my uncle, William Cobb and Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke. I figure since Cobb worked with Wilson, he wasn’t a very good guy.” Richard said with an embarrassed smile.

“So all that cocky, I-know-something-that-you-don’t shit was bullshit,” Jason said in disbelief.

“Yeap, what’s better then seeing if a mind-reader can find just a fragment of memory from the time I don’t remember,” Richard said.

“I’ll make you a deal,” Bruce said.

That got everyone’s attention.

“And what deal would that be?” Richard asked.

“We’ll help you figure out what happened in the time you were missing if you don’t leak our identities,” Bruce said.

Richard laughed.

“Oh, Bruce, desperate to keep your secret, are you?”

“I want to keep my family safe. If my identity is revealed, villains will be showing up at my doorstep.” Bruce replied.

“...I’ll accept your deal, but after we figure out what happened, I’m talking,” Richard said.

Bruce pulled his cowl up and motioned for the other two bats to follow. They put their masks in place and went out of the door. 

“How are we going to keep him from talking after we help him?” Robin asked.

“Are we really going to help him?” Red Hood asked.

“Yes,” Batman growled.

“That still leaves my question,” Robin said.

“We’ll change his mind, bring him into the fold. We have no choice.” Batman said.

“Tch, not like you’d mind anyway.” Red Hood replied.

Batman looked at him with a smirk before leaving the Watchtower through the zeta-tubes.

“He smirked!” Red Hood exclaimed. 

“He wouldn’t mind,” Robin said and followed Batman.

Red Hood looked around for any hero. He saw none.

“The one damn time Batman breaks emotionless and no one’s to see it.” Red Hood grumbled before going through the zeta-tube.

* * *

 

Richard was getting sick of laying down. It was so boring. He was more entertained when the three bats were here. He let out a long, loud groan of boredom. He waited to see if anyone would come in. He waited a few minutes before letting another out. This continued for about twenty minutes before a young man came in. Richard would guess he was about seventeen. The teen had dark skin, silvery hair, and gills.  _ Atlantean.  _

“Hello, Young Man.” Richard greeted.

“I heard your groaning, are you in pain?” The teen asked.

“Nope, just dying of boredom.” Richard smiled.

The teen stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

“What’s your name, kid?” Richard asked.

“Aqualad and you are the famous Detective Grayson,” Aqualad replied.

“Oh? Why am I famous?” Richard questioned.

“Robin talks about you on missions. Dissecting what he knows about you, trying to figure you out. It tends to annoy the rest of the team.” Aqualad answered.

“Team?” Richard interrogated.

Aqualad was about to answer but stopped. Richard sighed.

“Let something slip, did you?” Richard grinned.

“Yes…” Aqualad replied.

“Don’t worry, kid. I won’t tell anyone.” Richard replied.

“Thank you,” Aqualad said.

“So Aquaman you mentor, I presume. You a noble or something, I don’t know how things work in Atlantis.” Richard said.

Aqualad laughed and began to explain how he became Aqualad.

It was an interesting story. Richard liked this kid. He was nice and polite, very heroic. The kid entertained him for about an hour. Richard learned about Atlantis and little facts about the mysterious team. The entertaining teen was dragged out of the room by Martian Manhunter. 

“No fair, he was nice enough to talk to me,” Richard complained.

“You need rest.” Martian Manhunter argued.

“I need to get out of this bed is what I need to do,” Richard grumbled. 

“You were stabbed. It wasn’t a small stab either.” A woman said from behind Martian Manhunter.

The woman was blonde and had on a black leotard with fishnet tights. 

“You must be Green Arrow’s Catwoman, Black Canary,” Richard said.

“Green Arrow and I are nothing like Batman and Catwoman.” Black Canary growled.

“Suuure you aren’t,” Richard said with a smirk.

Black Canary huffed a sigh.

“You need to rest.” She said sternly.

“I’m bored!” Richard complained.

“Are you a child?” Black Canary growled.

“When it comes to being bored, yes!” Richard answered.

“If I transfer you to another place, will you be happy?” Black Canary asked.

“No, can’t one of your magic users fix me up?” Richard asked.

“Healing magic isn’t something they’re experts in.” Black Canary replied.

Richard groaned.

“I want out of here. Today.” Richard said.

“How about I transfer you to another League facility?” Black Canary asked.

“WHY? I have work to do in Gotham. Gordon has to be wondering where I am.” Richard said.

“Gordon has been made aware of your situation. Batman told him.” Martian Manhunter interrupted.

“I need to get back either way,” Richard argued.

“And why is that?” Black Canary asked.

“Look, you guys are vigilantes for a reason and I’m an officer for a reason. Both of us want to help people, and if there’s one thing I know, it’s to always get up even if you’re in pain. People out there need help. I let you do it your way, you let me do it my way, so let me out of this damn bed.” Richard ranted.

Black Canary and Martian Manhunter exchanged a look.

“Fine. If you can walk out here and through that zeta-tube, we’ll let you go.” Black Canary said.

Richard smiled at the challenge. 

“You’re so on.” He said.

Richard threw the covers off and legs over the bed edge. The slowly added his weight to his legs and stood shakily. Looking at Black Canary, Richard took a step forward. His side was burning slightly, but he kept moving. In a matter of minutes, he was out the door and half-way to the zeta-tubes when he stumbled a bit. His side was a 2 when he started, now it was about a 6 on the pain scale. Black Canary came up and stabilized him. 

“Kudos for getting this far, but time to go back.” Black Canary said gently.

“Hell no,” Richard growled. “I’m getting to that fucking zeta-tube. Let me go.” 

“Woah there, tiger. You’re in no condition to go any further without harming yourself more than you already are.” Black Canary said with concern.

“I need to get out of here. People need my help and this sure as hell isn’t going to stop me from doing my job.” Richard growled.

“Look as honorable as that is, I can’t let you-” Black Canary started.

“Let me go. Now.” Richard commanded.

Black Canary let him go.

“Fine.” She muttered.

Richard continued to stumble all the way to the zeta-tubes.

“Look, I’m here. I can go, right?” Richard said, slightly breathless.

Black Canary stood a few feet behind him. She looked at the blood droplets on the floor.

“Martian Manhunter...knock him out.” 

“What? No, you said I-” Richard started but was stopped by Martian Manhunter knocking him unconscious.

The martian levitated the detective back to his room. 

“Are you going to keep your word?” Martian Manhunter asked.

“...We’ll stitch him up and put him back in his hotel room with a detailed letter of how to keep his stitches clean and closed.” She said.

Martian Manhunter nodded with a smile and fixed Richard’s stitches. He then did as Black Canary said and dropped him in his hotel room with the instructions. The Martian was about to leave when he stopped. The martian felt Richard’s conscious mind.

“You’re a good cop, you know.” He said.

“Thanks.” A tired voice said from the bed.

“You’d make a good hero.” The martian said to the detective.

A tired laugh.

“I’m not fit to be a hero.”


	7. A Name

When Richard woke, he noticed the pill bottle and note sitting on his nightstand. Groggily, he rolled over and picked it up.

_ Richard, _

_ Take these pills to control the pain if it gets intense or to a 7 in the pain scale. I do hope you are careful not to tear or break the stitches. If you need anything, call Batman and he’ll get in touch with me or Martian Manhunter. To avoid breaking your stitches, do not do anything remotely strenuous on your body. In other words, don’t be a hero.  _

_ Good luck, Black Canary. _

Richard rolled his eyes and scoffed. 

“‘Don’t be a hero.’ As I told Martian Manhunter, I’m not fit to be a hero.” Richard said to himself.

Richard swung his legs over the bed and checked the time.  _ Five am.  _ The time was fine, the date, however, was two days after the last day he remembered.  _ November third?! It was the first! Let’s see, I was probably in the...wherever I was with Black Canary and the rest of them for a day or so. In that case, I slept a full day!  _ Richard groaned and looked around for his phone, then he realized he was still in a medical gown. He looked for his clothes and any possessions he had on him when he was stabbed. He found nothing, but he expected that since the lights were off and the curtains were closed causing the room to be really dark.

“Where the fuck is my stuff?” He mumbled, getting annoyed.

“Right here.” A rough voice said.

Richard spun around to see a silhouette in the corner of his hotel room. The silhouette was a muscular and he had a bag in his hand holding it out.  _ My clothes, I assume.  _

“Very funny, Batman. Give me my stuff.” Richard said dryly.

The man laughed. Alarms went off in Richard’s mind and he stiffened.  _ I don’t have any weapons or a phone.  _ He prepared himself for a fight that he’d probably lose.

“Who are you?” Richard asked, staring at the man.

“You know me, Richard.” The man said, “Given you probably don’t remember, but you and I were very close at one point.” 

“I don’t know you,” Richard said. 

The detective began looking around for his gun or escrima sticks.  _ Anything at all will be fine at this point.  _ Richard heard the man laugh.

“You don’t need a weapon. I have all of them anyways, but you do know me. Think Richard.” The man said with some cockiness.

Richard thought about what the man could be talking about, then it dawned on him.  _ The years I was missing...All I remember is William Cobb and… _

“Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke,” Richard said with recognition.

Slade Wilson laughed.

“So you do remember me.” He said.

“Only the name and face,” Richard replied.

“Come now, Dickie. You don’t remember us? What we did?” Slade asked.

“Sorry to disappoint but no, and don’t call me Dickie,” Richard growled.

“I suppose for that’s best.” Slade sighed.

“What do you mean?” Richard asked

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Slade grinned.

“Stop with the mind games. The two years I was missing, what do you know about them?” Richard growled.

All Slade did was laugh.

“Tell me!” Richard commanded.

“Or what? You’re weak in the state you’re in. You can’t fight with that wound.” Slade grinned.

“You think it would stop me?” Richard asked.

Slade laughed again.

“I know it wouldn’t, but I’ll leave you with this.” Slade stood.

Richard could finally see Slade. He wore a red button-up with black pants and an eyepatch. His white hair was tied up in a ribbon. He looked in his 40s, but he was insanely fit.  _ I really don’t want to fight him...ever.  _

“The truth lies with the Light,” Slade said. 

“I said stop with the mind games!” Richard yelled.

Slade said nothing but walked to the door.

“Wilson! Tell me what that means!” Richard yelled again.

Slade looked at him, threw the bag with his clothes at him, and grinned before leaving the hotel room. Richard growled before opening the bag and fishing out his phone. Richard then realized it wasn’t charged. Letting out an annoyed sound, he looked around for his charger. Seeing it, he plugged his phone in and encouraged his phone to turn on soon. After a few minutes, the phone finally turned on and Richard quickly called Gordon. After a few rings, the detective was sent to voicemail.

“Hey Gordon, I’m back in Gotham and I need to talk to you.” He said and hung up.

_ Who else has information on Deathstroke?  _ Richard’s shoulders sagged as he realized who else had information on Deathstroke. Sucking up his pride, Richard called Bruce Wayne. After a few rings, the billionaire answered, surprisingly.

**_“Hello, Wayne Residence,”_ ** Alfred said.

“I need Bruce,” Richard replied.

**_“Detective Grayson, how are you?”_ ** Alfred asked.

“I’ve been better, but I need Batman,” Richard responded.

Alfred was silent for a moment before saying:

**_“One moment.”_ **

There was a little talking before Bruce answered.

**_“Detective.”_ ** The polite billionaire playboy was gone. 

Richard was slightly disturbed by how good the facade of the playboy was and how different Bruce and Batman were.  _ Polar opposites.  _

“What do you know about Slade Wilson?” Richard asked.

**_“He’s a mercenary who goes by the name Deathstroke. He competes with Deadshot aka Floyd Lawton for jobs. He’s very good at what he does and is someone who can be on an even playing field with me. He has an acquaintance who goes by the name Wintergreen, his real name is William Randolph Wintergreen. I highly doubt you’ll find anything about Wintergreen in police databases.”_ ** Batman said.

“And what about in your databases?” Richard asked.

**_“We have his name, face, status, and how he’s associated with Wilson, but otherwise nothing,”_ ** Batman said.

“Well, Wilson just visited me,” Richard informed.

**_“What?”_ ** Batman asked.

“He basically caught up with me. Asked me if I remember what we did together, said we were close once. I asked if he knew what I did or where I was in the two years I was missing, and he just laughed and said ‘wouldn’t you like to know’ and ’the truth lies with the Light’.” Richard answered.

**_“The Light? He said the Light?”_ ** Batman questioned.

“Does that mean something to you?” Richard asked.

**_“I’ll get back to you when I have more information,”_ ** Batman said before hanging up.

_ What about Clark Kent? He is a news reporter.  _ Deciding to give it a shot, Richard dialed Kent’s number. The reporter picked up on the second ring.

**_“Clark Kent.”_ ** He said.

“Kent, it’s Detective Grayson,” Richard said.

**_“Detective! Is there any information you can share on your case now?”_ ** The reporter asked.

“I’m here in Gotham to figure out the identities of Batman, Red Hood, and Robin. Now, I need information on Deathstroke aka Slade Wilson.” Richard responded.

**_“Oh? And why do you need that, Detective?”_ ** Clark asked.

“...It’s personal.” Richard said hesitantly.

**_“Personal, and you’re using police resources?”_ ** Clark questioned.

“I’m not using police resources,” Richard growled.

Clark laughed.

**_“Whatever you say, Detective. I will do as you ask and try to find any information on this Slade Wilson.”_ ** Clark replied.

“Thank you,” Richard said before hanging up.

He looked around his room, quickly getting bored. He decided to do a little research of his own. He found that he didn’t have his laptop and sighed.  _ That means I can’t do any research.  _ Gordon still hadn’t called him back. With a sigh, Richard sunk down into bed and turned on the TV. Of course, it was Gotham News and as usual, it was about Batman’s recent fight with Two-Face and Robin and Red Hood’s fight with Bane. They even had pictures of the fight between the heroes and villains. The reporter went on about how the Bats were helping Gotham and how the Mayor was wrong for trying to ‘stop the only people doing good in this city’. Richard rolled his eyes and scoffed at that.  _ GCPD isn’t that useless, maybe corrupted, but not useless.  _

A knock at the hotel door alerted Richard. With a groan, Richard got up and answered the door. On the other side of the door was Jason Todd and Roy Harper. The redhead had a bottle of tequila in his hand. Richard looked at it.

“Isn’t that a little strong for a minor?” He asked.

“I turned twenty-one two days ago,” Roy said with a smile. 

“Oh yeah! Happy Late Birthday!” Richard said with an embarrassed laugh. “Come on in.”

The two boys walked in. Jason flopped onto Richard’s bed, while Roy sat on the couch. Richard sighed and laid down on the bed, quickly checking his stitches.

“So you know Jason’s, Red Hood,” Roy said quietly, setting the tequila down on the table.

Richard looked at him with a calculating eye.

“Yeah.” He replied.

Roy nodded before getting some cups from the room's kitchenette. He poured two glasses and gave one to Richard. 

“Cheers to you figuring them out,” Roy said.

Richard stared at him before agreeing and clinking glasses with Roy. He took a sip.

“So where’s Tim Drake?” Richard asked.

“School,” Jason answered.

“And you aren’t?” Richard asked.

“I work,” Jason replied.

“And you, Roy?” 

“I work in Queen Industries with Olie,” Roy answered.

“Do you run around vigilanting?” Richard questioned.

Roy looked at him then at Jason. They exchanged a silent conversation before Roy answered.

“Yes.” 

“Red Arrow?” Richard guessed.

Roy stared at him in shock.

“I had my suspicions.” Richard shrugged. “So why are you guys here?”

“Bats told us to come by to check on you and to give you this,” Jason said while giving Richard a small box.

Richard opened it and looked inside. It was an earpiece. 

“What’s this for?” Richard asked.

“To keep in touch. You press the button on the side and say a hero’s name, they’ll usually respond.” Jason explained.

Richard pressed the side button and a blue bird with its wing stretching upwards. The two heroes got up and started walking to the door.

“This isn’t like any business logo I’ve ever seen,” Richard commented.

“It’s not a business logo. It is your symbol.” Jason said.

“My symbol?” 

“Yeah, we each have our own name and symbol,” Roy replied.

“I’m not a hero,” Richard said tiredly.

“You’d make a good hero. You’re a good detective and you want to help people.” Roy responded.

“You even have a tragic backstory and probably has a shitty childhood. It’s a wonder you haven’t become a hero yet, honestly.” Jason commented.

“I’m not fit to be a hero,” Richard said solemnly.

Jason and Roy exchanged a look before walking to the door.

“What does it mean?” Richard asked quietly while looking at the symbol.

“Nightwing.”


	8. Disappointment

Richard was on patrol with Gordon. In his ear was the communicator Jason and Roy gave him, the detective had debated on whether or not to tell the commissioner. After a few minutes of debating with himself, he decided not to. Besides, Richard doubted if the older detective would believe him if he said Red Hood and Red Arrow gave him a communicator that was practically a direct line to the heroes running around various cities. 

“Something on your mind, Grayson?” Gordon said, pulling Richard from his thoughts.

The Commissioner was looked at him as he drove through Gotham.

“Aren’t you a little too old to be looking away from the road? Your reflexes are not as good as they used to be.” Richard smirked.

“I’ll take that as a no.” Gordon sighed.

**_We have a hostage situation at a Lexcorp office building located in downtown Gotham._ **

Gordon picked up the radio and replied to dispatch.

**_“Gordon and Grayson are about five minutes away.”_ **

**_“Four other units will meet you there.”_ ** Dispatch replied.

**_“Okay,”_ ** Gordon responded.

Gordon placed the radio back and looked at Richard.

“You ready for some action, Grayson? I know that your injury isn’t fully healed.” Gordon said.

“I should be fine. I just probably won’t put much of a show on.” Richard replied.

They drove in silence for a few minutes before coming onto the scene. The building had around a dozen police units outside. Richard immediately took note of the bomb squad vehicles. He also took note that they were empty.

“That is not four units,” Richard muttered as he got out of the car.

“Something must be wrong,” Gordon responded.

“Well, it’s a hostage situation that requires the bomb squad.” Richard snarked as the two detectives walked towards the building.

“What’s the status?” Gordon asked an on-scene officer.

“Sir, we have twenty-four hostages, all work for Lexcorp, each of them has on a vest with four sticks of dynamite. The dynamite is prepared to go off in three hours. Thing is, if one is set off they’re all set off. It’s a linked system.” The officer informed.

“So if we try to deactivate the bombs and fail, we won’t just lose one of the hostages, but all of them?” Gordon asked.

The officer nodded.

“What can we do?” Gordon asked.

“I’m not sure Sir, you’d have to ask the bomb squad commander.” The officer replied.

Gordon sighed.

“I’ll go,” Richard said.

Richard went over towards the bomb squad and went up to the woman barking orders.

“Excuse me, I’m Detective Grayson. I was called onto the scene.” He said to get the woman’s attention.

“What can I do for you, Detective?” She asked.

“I was made aware that the bombed vests are linked together. So knowing that, is there anything we can do to get everyone out of there safely?” He asked.

The woman, Axen, as it said on her vest, looked at the ground.

“I’m going to be honest with you here. I’m not sure we’ll be able to save a single one of them.” Axen replied.

“What?” Richard said in disbelief.

“The wiring on those vests is too complex, unlike anything we’ve dealt with,” Axen said. “It’s a lost cause.”

“Have you tried?!” Richard asked.

“If we try, they die!” Axen replied.

“If you don’t try, they die!” Richard responded.

“I can’t risk my men like that. Pack it up!” Axen yelled at her squad.

“You’re just going to leave?!” Richard yelled.

“I can not risk my men,” Axen growled.

“They have specialized suits! This is the job!” Richard argued.

“This is not your decision to make, Detective,” Axen growled.

_ Reminding me of my rank?! Really?! _ Richard stared at her before shaking his head and heading towards the building.

“Wh-Hey! Where are you going?” Axen yelled.

“To do your job,” Richard growled over his shoulder.

Coming to the doors, he barged in. On the floor of the lobby sat the twenty-four hostages. 

“Hello. My name is Richard Grayson. I am a Detective with Gotham police. Now, I’ve been made aware of the current situation. If someone would please allow me to inspect their vest, that’d be great.” He said awkwardly.

A hand went up. It was a gentleman with greying hair and glasses. Richard walked towards the man.

“Your name, sir?” Richard asked.

“Henry Barkins.” The man answered.

Richard knelt down and began looking at the vest. Axen was right. The wires were in a complex system and to make it worse, they were all black. There was a small timer on the upper right shoulder.  _ Two hours eleven minutes. _

“Can you tell me how this happened?” Richard asked.

“Some men came in and shot off some rounds into the ceiling. They came in carrying the vests and made us all put one on. There was a woman with them, but I don’t think she was with them. They had her at gunpoint while she activated the vests. She kept saying sorry. Before they left, she activated this cylinder thing that released some grey fog.” Henry said.

“Grey fog?” Richard asked.

“Yeah, but the men said they’d have all of the Light’s information,” Henry added.

“How’s that possible?” Richard questioned.

_ Two hours left.  _

“I think I can answer that.” A female voice answered from behind him.

Richard turned to see a pregnant woman. Richard’s heart ached. 

“I’m Nancy Hale. I specialize in technology, micro-technology to be exact.” She said with a smile.

“Okay,” Richard said.

“Oh right, um, the fog. It is possible for the fog to have actually been microbots that stole information from servers here in Lexcorp. As to what information they wanted, I’m not sure. All we store here is market statistics and things along those lines. We’ve never had anything major come through here.” Nancy informed.

“Okay, and what of the woman who activated the fog?” Richard asked.

“Oh, that was Doctor Serling Roquette! She’s a well-known genius in our field.” Nancy said.

_ An hour and thirty-seven minutes left. _

“Excuse me for a second. I’m going to step outside for a second.” Richard said before leaving.

Richard sucked up his pride and pressed the button on the communicator. 

**_“Nightwing to Batman.”_ **

**_“Batman responding with Superman and Green Lantern.”_ **

In the background, he heard a male voice ask who Nightwing was.

**_“I’ve got a problem in Gotham.”_ **

**_“A problem?”_ ** Batman asked.

**_“Twenty-four hostages with bombed vests. There’s no way I can defuse them.”_ **

**_“All active heroes are busy.”_ **

**_“Busy?”_ ** Richard asked.

**_“I’m sorry.”_ **

**_“Sorry?! Twenty-four people are going to die!”_ ** Richard yelled.

**_“I’m not even in the solar system, Detec-Nightwing, and as I said before, all other heroes are occupied. I’m sorry.”_ **

**_“The Justice League is supposed to help people! Get someone here.”_ ** Richard growled in command.

Not waiting for an answer Richard cut the line. Composing himself, he went back inside. He lifted his head and looked at the hostages. He must have not been able to hide the dread he felt because everyone’s face changed. Some started crying, some looked shocked. Few looked accepting, and others looked blank. Nancy looked at the detective with tearful eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” Richard murmured softly.

With a watery smile, Nancy looked at him.

“It’s okay Detective. You tried.” She said, tears streaming freely. “That’s more than what most Gotham police would do.”

“I’d like to get all your names,” Richard said softly.

Many of the hostages bowed their heads and looked to the ground in defeat. Richard steeled himself as he went around asking the people their names, addresses, and who needed to be contacted. He finally got to Nancy.

“What’s...” He took a deep breath, “What’s the baby’s name?”

“Richard Morgan Hale.” She said, “After you.”

Richard teared up.

“I’m honored.” He choked out.

Nancy smiled, stood, and hugged him. Richard hugged back.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered, tears threatening to fall.

“You tried, Detective. That’s more than what other people would do, and you care enough to stay with us. It’s okay.” She said.

Her tears fell onto Richard’s shoulder.  _ This isn’t fair.  _

“It’s okay.” She said shakily. “Now, go get the remaining names.”

By the time he got them all, there were six minutes left. He stayed with them until it got down to one minute.

“Go, Detective,” Henry said with a small smile.

As Richard turned, he heard many voices thank him. When he exited the building, his eyes had watered again, but he kept walking. It had started raining while Richard was inside. He walked to the other officers. Just as he got there, the bombs went off. The heat crashed against his back, but all he did was let his tears fall and look up to the sky. He mentally cursed whatever higher power was looking down at the scene. A hand rested on his shoulder.  _ Gordon. _

“Are you okay, son?” The older detective asked.

Richard kept his face out of sight and shook his head. The older detective knew Richard was crying. Despite the darkness, he could see the glint of the light coming from the flames reflect off of the tears streaming down Richard’s face.

“You can’t save everyone,” Gordon said softly.

“I know that,” Richard growled.

“Then why are you crying?” Gordon asked.

Richard clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, but didn’t respond. He heard the other officers leave the scene to return to their patrol routes or go to the precinct. It rained harder, soaking both detectives.  Richard made no move to leave and let the flames heat his back. Gordon realized Richard wasn’t going to move and sighed. 

“Call me when you’re ready.” He said and left.

Richard heard the fire department working on the fire. All Richard could think about was the victims. They just accepted it, knowing no one was working to save them. He clenched his fist harder and bared his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. He felt like yelling, screaming about how unfair and unjust the world was, but he knew it would change nothing. Richard heard footsteps against the wet pavement. He turned to see Batman, Superman, and a group of teens. It was clear to them that Richard was beyond pissed and was crying.

“They’re all dead.” He growled.

No one responded.

“You’re not going to say anything?!” He yelled.

“What could we say?” Batman asked.

“That you’re sorry! That you should’ve been here! Something!” Richard yelled.

“Would that change anything?” Batman asked.

Richard gritted his teeth again and glared at the Dark Knight.

“They died knowing no one was trying to save them. No one! They smiled at me! Thanked me! A woman named her unborn child after me!” Richard yelled, crying again, “What am I going to tell their families?! I’m sorry we didn’t try?! I’m sorry it ended this way?! I’m sorry your wife, child, or husband died knowing no one was trying to help them?! Knowing that there was no way out? Feeling the dreadful suspension of that clock running down?!” 

“You tell them you spent as much time with them,” Batman said.

“You think that will matter?! This is Gotham, no one care about how heroic some detective acts!” Richard growled.

“They care about where you were, about how you cared enough,” Superman said.

“Where I was? Where were you?! You people are supposed to be heroes, but two dozen people died!” Richard argued.

They didn’t answer.

“Well?!” Richard asked.

Still no response.

“Tch, I bet you were off playing playboy billionaire,” Richard growled before turning and walking away. 

“We were protecting the population and investigating a criminal organization known as the Light. We had reason to believe they were trying to bring an alien race known as the Reach to come here and take over. We’ve only gotten whispers of their existence, much like the Court of Owls. They may be involved in this, but it also might be the League of Shadows. We had to put the loss of thousands before the loss of a few. That doesn’t mean we care, that means we’re willing to make sacrifices for the greater good.” Batman stopped him.

“If any of the organizations I mentioned carried out the Reach plan, millions will die or wars will break out.” 

“Did you find anything?” Richard said over his shoulder.

Batman didn’t respond.

“Then it wasn’t worth it,” Richard growled and walked away.

As he walked, he reached into his ear and pulled out the communicator. He looked at it before crushing it and throwing it aside.


	9. Talk

**Last Time:**

“Where I was? Where were you?! You people are supposed to be heroes, but two dozen people died!” Richard argued.

They didn’t answer.

“Well?!” Richard asked.

Still no response.

“Tch, I bet you were off playing playboy billionaire,” Richard growled before turning and walking away. 

“We were protecting the population and investigating a criminal organization known as the Light. We had reason to believe they were trying to bring an alien race known as the Reach to come here and take over. We’ve only gotten whispers of their existence, much like the Court of Owls. They may be involved in this, but it also might be the League of Shadows. We had to put the loss of thousands before the loss of a few. That doesn’t mean we don’t care, that means we’re willing to make sacrifices for the greater good. If any of the organizations I mentioned carried out the Reach plan, millions will die or wars will break out.” 

“Did you find anything?” Richard said over his shoulder.

Batman didn’t respond.

“Then it wasn’t worth it,” Richard growled and walked away.

As he walked, he reached into his ear and pulled out the communicator. He looked at it before crushing it and throwing it aside.

* * *

 

Bruce sighed heavily as he tried to call Dick for the thousandth time. He had been calling the detective's cell phone and the communicator, which Bruce deducted that he took the piece out of his ear.  _ Damn it, it’s not our fault we were dealing with other things that were more important than a handful of people. We had to put the lives of many before the life of few. He’s a detective, he should know that we can’t save everyone.  _ As Bruce Wayne, he went to the bomb site and saw that people had built a shrine to those who died. Pictures, names, items, and posters littered the ruined building. Beside him, Alfred looked at him then down at the ground.

“Something you want to say?” Bruce asked his butler.

“Have you heard Master Richard’s side of the story?” Alfred said softly.   
“No, why?” Bruce responded.

“Then you’d understand his anger at the League and this whole situation,” Alfred said wisely.

Bruce glared at him.

“Alfred, the lives of many are more important than the lives of few. The detective should know that.” Bruce growled.

“He does. He just wanted someone to try. He was the only one who had hope that those people could be saved. The bomb squad drove away, the League was all he had left to help him. Yet, you didn’t even try to compromise for any of you to come to their aid.” Alfred advised.

Bruce felt that Alfred wasn’t done.

“What do you want me to do, Alfred?” He asked.

“Go to the precinct and have Batman talk to him, not Bruce Wayne,” Alfred answered.

“Is there really a difference?” Bruce grumbled as he went back to the car.

“Yes, Master Wayne is beginning to care for the detective while Batman only allows him to work with him because he’s trustworthy and can hold his own,” Alfred answered, earning another glare from Bruce.

Bruce sighed, knowing Alfred was right.

“What about the boys?” He asked.

“I will tell them what you are doing.” Alfred assured, “They probably want you to do this anyway.”

It clicked then that Alfred had talked to the boys and they had all come to the conclusion that Bruce should talk to Dick.  _ Sneaky brats. _

* * *

 

“We’re here, Sir,” Alfred informed respectfully.

Bruce sighed and got out of the car. The stood for a moment, observing the precinct before entering. He passed through the doors and immediately went to find the commissioner. Gordon was talking with the mayor, rather animated. Bruce got into Gordon’s sight and stood. Gordon saw him and excused himself to walk over.

“Mr. Wayne, I didn’t expect to see you. Something wrong?” Gordon asked.

“No, I was just looking for that Bludhaven detective, Grayson?” Bruce said.

“He’s over in the square asking some store owner about his encounter with Robin. While Detective Grayson is capable, that kid has a lot on his shoulders.” Gordon sighed.

“What makes you say that, Commissioner?” Bruce asked.

Gordon looked hesitant to tell him, glancing around to see if anyone was close enough to hear.

“I like you and I think you could do some good for that kid, so I’ll tell you something. The kid got way too close to the Lexcorp ordeal, way too close. He’s been working himself to the bone since then, says he wants to expose Batman so he could basically yell at him for not being in his own city to protect his own citizens, his words.” Gordon said quietly.

“So the kid’s angry?” Bruce asked.

“Not angry, more like productively vengeful,” Gordon replied.

_ Great.  _

“When will the detective be back?” Bruce questioned.

Gordon shrugged.

“I could send him over to the Manor when I see him,” Gordon suggested.

Bruce nodded.

“That’ll be fine. Thank you, Jim.” Bruce said and turned to leave.

“Bruce,” Gordon says.

Bruce turns to look at him.

“This might be more personal then you and I realize, so don’t act like a businessman. And while you may act as a father to the kid, don’t adopt this one.” Gordon says with a smirk.

“I have to expand my Lost Boys gang.” Bruce jokes and turns back.

_ The thought never crossed my mind, and besides the kid is in his twenties, perfectly capable of taking care of himself.  _ Bruce walks outside to the car and awaiting Alfred. He opens the door and climbs in. Alfred looks at him through the mirror with a raised eyebrow.

“He wasn’t there.” Bruce answers.

“Was he not there or did you ignore that he was there?” Alfred asks.

“He’s in the Square asking around about Robin.” Alfred starts the car and started driving to the Manor. “You know, he already knows our identities, why keep the act up?”

“You know why, Sir.” Alfred answers.

“Yeah, well after the recent bombing, I don’t think he’s still firm in that he won’t tell,” Bruce growls.

“Have faith in the detective, he’s a good man. Will he be joining us later on?” Alfred asked.

“Yes, the Commissioner is supposed to send him our way when he returns to the precinct.” Bruce answers.

The two fall into a comfortable silence as they drove home.

* * *

 

Richard moped as he interviewed the store owners. The answers they gave him re-enforced what he already knew. Tim Drake is Robin, but he already knew that. At this point, he was just running in circles, keeping his word to not tell anyone as long as the Bats helped him, which they hadn’t. The thought to leak their identities had crossed his mind, but he was too good a person to act on it.  _ We’ll help you figure out what happened in those two years if you don’t leak our identities. That’s what he said, and what has he done? Nothing. He still hasn’t gotten back to me about Wilson.  _ Then an idea popped into his head.  _ Who knows Wilson better than Batman and me?  _ He smirked as he walked to the precinct.  _ A competitor. Deadshot. _ Richard knew it would be dangerous and he might get killed, but he needed the information and Batman wasn’t cutting it. Richard walked into the precinct and straight to Gordon’s office. He sat at the computer and accessed all the data they had on Deadshot.  _ Name: Floyd Lawton. Alive. A mercenary who has a rep for never missing. Blah Blah Blah, where’s the stuff I need? Ah here, known locations: Gotham...That’s it? Gotham?  _ He sighed.  _ You’ve got to be kidding me. _ Richard took the communicator out of his pocket. It had rung a bunch of times during the day.  _ No doubt Batman...Maybe I should ask for help.  _ He sighed and put it back into his pocket.  _ Damn it, in the end, I went back for this stupid thing and put it back together. _ Gordon walked in as Richard banged his head on the desk. 

“Rough day?” Gordon asked.

“I need to find Floyd Lawton, and we have literally nothing on his locations other than Gotham,” Richard mumbled with his head on the desk.

“Oh, good luck finding him. Anyway, your day’s about to get worse, Wayne wants to talk to you. Go up to the Manor and see what he wants.” Gordon commanded.

Richard groaned.

“Yeah, I know,” Gordon said as he shooed Richard away.

“I’m taking the long way,” Richard said.

He got his motorcycle and left the precinct. He drove around for a while before heading to Wayne Manor. As he pulled up, he thought about the communicator.  _ I’ll give it back to them.  _ He got off and went up to the door, hand resting over the communicator. He knocked. Alfred answered and allowed him in, exchanging the polite greeting.

“So does Bruce Wayne want to see me or is it Batman?” Richard asked.

“I’m unsure of that myself, Master Richard,” Alfred said.

“Just Richard is fine Alfred.” He said.

“Of course, Master Just Richard.” Alfred smiled a little.

Richard gave a soft smile and a huff of a laugh.

“Smart ass.” He muttered.

“Master Bruce is up in his office,” Alfred informed.

“Where are the brats?” Richard asked, noticing the quietness of the Manor.

“Out,” Alfred said.

Richard looked at him before sighing and moving upstairs to the office. He knocked and opened the door. Bruce sat at his desk with a laptop open in front of him.

“So who am I talking to? Playboy or Dark and Broody?” He asked.

“Tell me what happened before the bombs went off,” Batman ordered.

“Ah, so Dark and Broody,” Richard said and glared at him. “Why such an interest now?” 

“I was told I should ask.”

“So it’s Alfred’s idea,” Richard reiterated blatantly.

Batman didn’t respond.

Richard gave a heavy sigh for the twentieth time that day and told Batman what he did with the people and how he handled the situation. When he finished, Bruce sat there with his hands locked together at his mouth.

“So that’s why you’re angry with the League because no one else helped and we were supposed to, which you think because you got too personal with the victims.” Batman deduced.

“There’s more to it than that,” Richard growled.

“Do tell,” Bruce replied.

“I understand your reasoning-”

“Then why are you mad?” Bruce cut him off.

Richard glared at him.

“Because as the League, you are supposed to be there. Always. You signed yourself up for that expectation when you became a group of heroes and not some psychos dressed in costumes who went around beating people up. When you started banning together and helping in impossible situations. When you became dependable.” Richard snarled.

“We couldn’t spare anyone,” Bruce responded.

“Yes, you could’ve. You have meta-humans, Atlanteans, aliens, and magicians. That’s enough firepower to win all wars, losing one member wouldn’t have made everything go to shit.” Richard growled.

“I’m obviously missing something. I don’t understand why you think we are able to save everyone.” Bruce said monotone.

Richard dug his fingers into his palms.

“That’s not what I’m saying! I know I can’t save everyone, but I can try. That’s my issue. I told you the situation and you didn’t even TRY to get someone down here! You simply said no and that was it. Those people watched as the bomb squad drove away, they felt abandoned! Do you know what one of them said to me?! She said, ‘thank you, you tried, which is way more than what some people would’ve done.’ and she was right!” Richard vented.

Bruce had a thought.

“Is this because no one helped you when you were younger because no one tried to prove that New Hope was a terrible place and it wasn’t what it seemed?” Bruce said.

Richard gritted his teeth and stayed silent as he and Bruce stared at each other.

“So it is,” Bruce answered.

“So what?” Richard growled.

Bruce sat back into his chair.

“So this is personal.” 

“I hoped that one of you would come to that place and save us, you never did. I learned to fight for myself, never depend on anyone, never trust anyone to do the right thing. Then you, Tim, Jason, and all the others came along and thought that maybe I was wrong, that I could trust you and depend on you. And it got thrown in my face.” Richard said softly. “So now you know why I was pissed.” 

Richard’s hand gripped the communicator in his pocket. Bruce stood and walked over to him. He looked at him for a second before clicking at his ear. The communicator in Richard’s pocket buzzed and it was audible in the silent room.

“And yet you still have that communicator,” Bruce said.

Richard knew Bruce thought he won this little scuffle and Richard had to admit he kind of did.

“I was going to give it back to you,” Richard said.

“But you haven’t. You’ve been pawing at it this whole time, but you never took it out of your pocket.” Bruce said.

Richard stared at him.

“You want to be Nightwing, you’re just not sure what that would entail,” Bruce concluded.

Richard stayed silent.

“Would you like me to show you?” Bruce asked.

Richard hesitated for a moment.

“...Yes.”


	10. Leads

 

Richard had followed Bruce down into the Batcave, and he now stared at it in awe, forgetting his previous frustration. He ignored the peculiar trophies the Batman had, like the giant penny, and focused on the equipment. The man had state of the art computer, a large gun barrel looking thing in the wall, holograms, and interactive holo-computers. Needless to say, Richard was impressed. He looked at the gun barrel looking thing and nodded to it.

“What’s that?” He asked.

“A zeta-tube to various locations around the world,” Bruce said.

Richard could practically hear the grin the man had on his face. Richard had to admit he was acting a little childish. 

“So where’s Tim and Jason?” Richard asked.

_ Maybe their absence is due to them being out heroing right now. _

“Somewhere,” Bruce said mysteriously.

“Somewhere as in out?” Richard said, giving Bruce a pointed look.

“You’d have to ask them. They’re on their way here.”

A few minutes after Bruce said that the zeta-tube lit up with a bright gold light. Two figures stepped out of the light.

“I’m telling you, Tim, Superboy’s anger issues are,” Jason noticed Richard,”...going to get us killed one...day.”

A moment of silence fell upon the four men.

“What is he doing down here?!” Jason broke the silence.

Richard opened his mouth to reply, but Bruce beat him to it.

“He agreed to a...preview of what the job would require,” Bruce answered.

Tim smiled.

“So you’re considering the hero gig, huh?” He said.

“I can’t say I’m not impressed, but as I said before: I’m not fit to be a hero,” Richard replied.

“You’ve said it many times, Detective, but there’s no evidence to support that conclusion,” Tim replied.

“You should consider becoming a lawyer. You have the tone and everything already.” Richard responded.

Tim gave him a smile.

“I’ll consider it if you give Alfred a suit design.” Tim bargained.

_ Definitely a lawyer. _ Richard sighed.

“Fine.” He said.

Tim walked over and guided Dick to drawing pad. It wasn’t paper and pencil; it was a stylus and a blank screen.

“The Batcave has electronic drawing pads?” Richard said.

“It’s used for drawing out plans, blueprints, and, now, suits. Enjoy.” Tim said and walked away.

Richard felt Jason walk up and stand behind him. Richard’s hand holding the stylus, hovering over the screen.

“You have no idea what to look like do you?” Jason asked.

Richard gave him a shy smile.

“Not really.”

“Give me two colors,” Jason said while he took the stylus from Richard.

“Um, Red...and blue,” Richard said.

“That’s Superman,” Jason replied.

“Blue and yellow?” Richard tried.

“Booster Gold.” 

“Red and yellow?”

Jason gave him a pointed look. 

“Not a good mix, huh,” Richard said. 

He sighed. 

“How about blue and black?” Richard asked. 

Jason thought for a moment then shrugged. 

“Okay. What style?” He said.

“...Style?” Richard asked.

“Yeah, cape, no cape? Long sleeve, short sleeve? Gloves, no gloves?” Jason listed.

“No cape, long sleeve, gloves,” Richard replied.

Jason murmured an okay before drawing. It started off as a plain dark blue long sleeve shirt with kevlar and black pants. He added gloves, then he began drawing the design. He added a high collar and a light blue X across the chest with outlining gold. He added a small mask and light blue boots. He leaned away to let Richard look at it. The costume had some flare, but Richard didn’t want to be noticed in his...preview. 

“Something a little less..showy?” Richard said.

Jason sighed.

“You were in a circus.” He muttered.

Richard chose to ignore that.

Starting to draw again, Jason took away everything and restarted. The shirt and pants now black and a blue V shape in the chest that spread to the shoulders and down the arms to the gloves. He added gloves like Batman’s, with the angled spikes on the side, and added black boots. He kept that small mask, but this time it had little elongated points at the ends. Jason leaned black to let Richard look at it again. Richard liked this one better. He smiled at Jason.

“Much better.” He said.

“ALFRED!” Jason yelled, suddenly.

Richard looked at him.

“No need to yell in my face.” Richard laughed

Alfred came out of nowhere.

“Yes, Master Jason?” He said.

“Think you could make this in a few hours?” Jason asked.

Alfred gave him a pointed look.

“Right. Why ask.” Jason said and turned to Richard.

“Alright then, Dick, let me introduce you to the Team,” Jason said with a grin.

“No.” Bruce’s stern voice broke in.

“What? Why not? You’re the one trying to introduce the Detective to the gig. Why not introduce him to some of the younger heroes?” Jason whined.

“Because he didn’t know about them,” Bruce growled.

Jason looked at Richard.

“Shit.” He said.

Richard laughed.

“I actually did know about them, I just never thought it important enough to mention,” Richard told Bruce.

“Who’s on it?” Bruce interrogated.

“Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Aqualad, Artemis, Superboy, Robin, and, apparently, Red Hood.” Richard listed automatically.

_ How the hell did I know that???  _ Bruce narrowed his eyes.

“Just how did you come across all of that information?” Bruce questioned.

“To be honest, I’m not quite sure.” Richard smiled.

“Dude, you’re missing a lot of people,” Jason said.

“Hey man, I didn’t say I knew everyone. I just knew it existed even if I’m not sure how I knew.” Richard defended.

“Weird, think it could be from those missing years?” Jason asked Bruce.

“Maybe,” Bruce responded.

“By the way, where are you on that?” Richard cut in.

“Nowhere, actually,” Tim said as he came back in regular clothes.

“Tim,” Bruce said sternly.

“Nowhere?!” Richard asked. “What does he mean?”

“All we know right now is that you were with Deathstroke and William Cobb, an Owl in the Court of Owls,” Bruce answered.

Richard took a moment to calm down. At that moment, Jason left to go change into regular clothes.

“That’s all?! I already knew that!” Richard stressed.

“Right well, that’s all we’ve got. We were trying to track down Deathstroke, but we’ve had no luck, and the Court of Owls is a lost cause. We’ve only caught whispers of them. No one wants to talk about them.” Tim said.

Richard heaved a sigh.  _ Speaking of Deathstroke… _

“What do you know about Floyd Lawton?” Richard asked, slipping into detective mode.

“Deadshot, a rival to Deathstroke. Has a family, weakness, reputation for never missing a shot.” Bruce replied.

“Why?” Tim asked.

“Do you have his location?” Richard asked, ignoring Tim.

“...Yes.” Bruce answered.

“What is it?” Richard questioned.

“He’s currently based in a warehouse near the bay. The old Gotham Shipping storage.” Tim answered. 

“I’ll be back,” Richard said as he turned to leave.

“We can’t let you go by yourself!” Tim yelled from behind him.

“What is he doing?” Jason asked.

“He’s going to get himself killed, that’s what!” Tim stressed.

“Uh…” Jason said intelligently.

“He’s going to Deadshot to ask where Deathstroke is,” Tim said with annoyance.

“That’s a good idea,” Jason commented.

“Wha- No!” Tim said.

The two started arguing, but Dick couldn’t hear them anymore. He was already near the front door with his jacket on.


	11. Rivals and Allies

Richard had navigated through the city to the warehouse Deadshot was currently using as his base. He had put the communicator back into his ear, just in case he needed help. Deciding to not alert the mercenary to his arrival, Richard got off his bike and hid it around a block away from the warehouse. Richard quickly but silently made his way towards the base. He stopped by a dirty window and peered in. He could make out two silhouette and general traits. He could tell it was two men. One was sitting; he had light hair, almost white. He looked to be wearing all black. The one standing was talking very animatedly. He had brown hair and was wearing dark clothes. Richard heard the two men fighting, but their voices were muffled. Richard moved closer to listen in on what they were saying.

“-helping him!” A rough voice said.

“I’m not asking.” A smoother voice replied.

_ The first one is definitely Floyd Lawton, but I don’t know the second...It sounds familiar. _

“Fuck you, Wintergreen. You can tell Slade to go fuck himself. I may be a mercenary, but I’m not working for or with my rival no matter the money.” Lawton growled.

Richard’s eyes widened in recognition.  _ Wintergreen?! Deathstroke’s associate. _

“You rival will pay generously.” Wintergreen purred. “However, I don’t think you’re cut out for this.”

Richard could tell that the room’s temperature dropped at Wintergreen’s sentence.

“ _ What _ ?” Lawton snarled.

“You’re not good enough,” Wintergreen stated.

“Oh, I’ll show you who’s not good enough,” Lawton said with the clicking of a gun.

“If you can’t sense the ear outside the window, then you’re not good enough,” Wintergreen said.

Richard cursed and ducked as the two men opened fire at the window Richard was near. The bullets shattered the glass as they flew over Richard. Some of the shards cut his jacket and nicked his hands and face. The bullets stopped. Footsteps came rushing towards the window. Richard drew his gun and aimed it at the window. He saw Floyd Lawton first.

“Don’t move! Gotham Police!” He shouted.

“Fuck the police,” Floyd growled and jumped through the broken window.

Richard squeezed off a shot, shooting the mercenary in the leg. 

“That didn’t get you very far, did it?” He snarked.

“No, but he’s stupid.” 

Richard peered inside the warehouse. Wintergreen had taken a seat and had a half-full wine glass in his hand.  _ Classy.  _

“Wintergreen, I presume,” Richard said.

“Nice to see you again, Richard. You’ve grown quite a bit.” Wintergreen sized him.

“Again?” Richard asked.

Wintergreen looked at him from over the rim of the wine glass.

“Don’t remember?” He laughed. “I didn’t think they’d go through with it.”

“Go through with what?” Richard asked.

“That’s not for me to tell,” Wintergreen replied before standing.

“If you’ll excuse me.” 

Richard jumped inside.

“I can’t let you leave. I need to know where Slade Wilson is.” Richard stated.

Wintergreen looked at him from over his shoulder.

“I’m not sure you want to do that.” 

Richard reached inside his jacket and pulled out his escrima sticks. 

“I’m sure.”

Richard had never known a human could move as fast as Wintergreen did at that moment. The man lunged forward with a knife Richard hadn’t seen him pull. Richard barely crossed his sticks in time to block the blade as it came for his neck. Richard’s wide eyes made contact with Wintergreens bored, narrower ones. 

“I warned you.” He said simply. 

Wintergreen had mercy on Richard and made his defeat quick. Taking advantage of Richard’s shock, he hooked his foot around Richard’s ankle and yanked his leg out from under him. He stomped on the detective’s chest, causing a few broken ribs. Richard gave a choked sound.

“Next time won’t be so nice.” He warned.

Wintergreen straightened his clothes before leaving Richard lying on the ground, wheezing. Richard painfully rolled over, coughing. He could hear Lawton laughing.

“No one fights Wintergreen.” He said.

“Shut...up.” Richard breathed.

Dick raised a hand to his ear and clicked the communicator.

“I fucked up.” He said.

“ **_Of course you did._ ** ” Jason’s voice replied.

“ **_We’re on our way._ ** ” Tim cut in.

Richard painfully got up and stumbled over to Lawton, who was still clutching his wounded leg.

“Tell me where Deathstroke is and I won’t throw you in jail,” Dick said.

Floyd laughed.

“Why would I tell you?” He snarled.

Richard grinned.

“I may be a detective, but I’m from Bludhaven and I grew up in Gotham’s foster care system.” He said.

Lawton got serious real fast.

“Okay, okay, last time I heard, he was in Metropolis and going to Star,” Lawton said. 

Richard smiled.

“Thank you. You can go.” He joked.

Lawton narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll patch you up,” Richard said.

As he finished that sentence, Red Hood, Robin, and Batman dropped down. 

“Oh, fu-” Lawton started.

“Hey, there’s a child around.” Richard chastised. 

Robin glared at the two men before noticing Richard’s labored breathing.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Fine, I need to patch Lawton up and let him go.” He explained as he went up to Batman and pulled his belt off.

Richard played with a few compartments before finding stitch string, a needle, and tweezers.

“Here we are.” He said as he dropped down to Lawton’s leg. “This may hurt.”

Richard gave no warning as he began digging around Lawton’s leg for the bullet. He extracted it after a few seconds of Lawton trying not to jerk around and grunting in pain. Richard dropped the bullet onto the ground and began stitching the mercenary’s leg. He heard Robin, Red Hood, and Batman have a quiet conversation before the two younger bats left. Batman stayed to watch over the detective. Richard finished stitching up the leg and patted Lawton’s thigh.

“All good. Sorry for shooting you.” Richard said with a smile.

Lawton looked at him.

“You just apologized for shooting me…” He said.

“Yes, I did,” Richard replied.

“I was going to kill you,” Lawton responded.

“But you didn’t,” Richard said with a smile.

“I like you, Kid.” Lawton grinned and reached a hand up.

Richard helped the man to his feet and made sure he could walk okay, then let him go. 

“So do I have you as a friend?” Richard said before Lawton walked too far away.

The mercenary looked over his shoulder then at Batman.

“Maybe. Take care of those ribs.” Lawton said before continuing to hobble away.

Richard turned to Batman. Batman had a questioning look on his face.

“I got into a brief fight with Wintergreen...I may have some broken ribs.” Richard said, sheepishly.

“Come on,” Batman said and turned with a whoosh of his cape. 

Richard followed him, dragging behind a little. They came up to an old telephone booth, Batman opened the door and nodded towards it. Richard looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Just get in.” He said.

Richard made a noise and walked inside. Batman closed the door and Richard heard him messing around with something outside of the door.

“Don’t freak out,” Batman said loudly.

“What? Why would I-” Richard started.

A bright light cut him off and Richard squeezed his eyes shut. 

“Start walking forward!” Batman yelled.

Doing as the man said, Richard started walking and came out into the Batcave to greet Red Hood and Robin as Jason Todd and Tim Drake. They looked at him.  _ Holy shit, I’m dizzy.  _ He swayed where he stood. Jason laughed.

“That was me on the first ride too.” He said.

Batman entered the Batcave in bright light.

“Alfred!” Tim called.

The loyal butler came up and lead Richard to the medical table. He then told Richard to take his jacket and shirt off. Richard did as told. He heard gasps as his chest was revealed. The middle of his chest had a bootprint bruise and heavy purple bruises were forming around it.

“Shit, Grayson,” Jason said.

“It doesn’t hurt as bad as it looks,” Richard assured.

“Really? ‘Cause that shit looks bad.” Jason doubted.

Richard hissed as Alfred poked and prodded at the bruises.

“Wintergreen did this?” Batman, now Bruce, asked.

“All by his lonesome,” Richard confirmed.

He grinned. Alfred began wrapping Richard’s chest.

“But guess who got Deathstroke’s location.” 

“No way. You’re practically heaving each breath and you’re happy you got Deathstroke’s location?!” Jason said.

“Well, yeah…” Richard responded.

“I’ll give that to a Team and League co-op mission,” Batman said.

Richard perked up causing Alfred to give him a warning glance. He relaxed.

“What? No, this is my deal. I’ll handle it.” Richard protested.

Silence filled the cave as the bats, including Alfred, had a silent conversation.  _ Man, that’s not fair. I want to know what’s going on.  _ Richard looked at the exchange, slightly annoyed.  _ But it’s pretty damn cool.  _ They seemed to come to a conclusion as they all directed their attention to the detective.

“I don’t like that…” Richard said uncomfortably.

The two younger bats smiled.

“I definitely don’t like that,” Richard said.

“How would you like that to be your first mission?” Bruce asked.

Richard took a moment to process what they were proposing.

“You want me, an inexperienced whatever you want to call this, to go on a mission with the Justice League and the mysterious Team to go catch Deathstroke.” Richard cleared.

Bruce nodded.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Richard replied.

“Come on, Grayson. You’ll be with the Justice League and the Team. You won’t get hurt or anything.” Red Hood reasoned.

“That’s not why I’m hesitant. This is something personal...I’m not sure I want that many people getting involved with something that I’m not even sure of.” Richard explained.

“So you’re worried about people figuring things out before you?” Tim asked. 

“That’s such a Bruce thing to do,” Jason commented.

“Look, I know you’re trying to help, and I appreciate it, but maybe this should just stay between us,” Richard said.

The bats looked at each other. They made a few gestures and Alfred finished wrapping and securing Richard’s chest.

“Are you just saying that so you won’t reveal that you feel that you won’t be much help because of your ribs?” Alfred cut in, interrupting the bats' silent conversation and getting their attention.

Richard didn’t respond.

“Ha! That’s why?! Grayson, I’ve seen you fight. Those ribs won’t hinder you much.” Jason said loudly.

“Yeah, Black Canary told us all about that time in the medical wing.” Tim smiled.

“Ignoring your injuries, will you go as Nightwing on this mission?” Bruce got serious.

Richard pondered for a moment before giving Bruce a determined look.

“If you can guarantee Deathstroke’s capture, then yes,” Richard said.

Bruce nodded.


	12. Suited Beginnings

A few hours later Alfred brought the Nightwing costume to Richard. The blue looked stunning against the black.  _ I have to hand it to Jason. It looks great.  _ Richard took the suit and boots and followed Alfred to the changing rooms. Bruce had told Richard to put all his equipment in his suit. First, Richard put the spandex suit on. To say Richard was uncomfortable in the tight spandex of the Nightwing suit was an understatement. He went on to take his escrima sticks and gun out of his jacket. His escrima sticks had two places to go. One was two clips on his back. The other was a pocket for each on his thighs. He chose to go with the pockets. With each stick in one pocket on each pocket, he looked at himself in the mirror.  _ You can see everything… _ With a sigh, he left the changing room. As he walked into the cave, he immediately felt the four bats eyes on him. He braced himself for the laughter he was sure to get.

“Damn, Self. That’s a damn good suit for him.” Jason complimented himself.

“He needs a cape,” Tim commented.

“I believe he looks fine without one, Master Tim,” Alfred said.

“Right...well nice job, Alfred, Jason.” Tim backed down.

_ Okay, now Bruce… _ The man was looking at him.

“Isn’t it a little...bare?” He said.

“I do feel a little exposed, but I suppose it could be worse.” Richard shrugged.

Alfred stepped forward and placed Richard’s mask on. He stepped back. Jason whistled.

“Shit, man. You look good.” He said.

“The mask looks perfect, Alfred,” Tim commented.

“I try my best. I am after all the Batler as Master Jason like to say.” Alfred smiled softly.

Bruce was nodding at the look.

“Have you already put all of your equipment in the suit?” He asked.

“Uh, yeah. But” He went back into the changing room and picked up his gun before returning. He held it up. “What about this?” He asked.

Silence answered his question. He sighed.

“I’m a cop. I’m not going to kill anyone.” He reasoned.

“Heroes don’t need guns to do their job,” Bruce replied.

“But they come in handy. I can’t throw whatever you call ‘ems.” Richard responded.

“We’ll teach you. For now, you’ll just have to make do with the escrima sticks and your fighting skills.” Bruce made it clear that there would be no objections.

“Then train me now,” Richard replied.

“What?” Bruce said.

“Now. Let’s start training now.” Richard cleared.

“No.” Bruce denied.

“And why not?” Richard challenged.

Jason and Tim looked at each other with the ‘oh shit’ looks.

“Because you’re a cop. It’d take some time to measure where you are in fighting and how well you can throw.” Bruce answered.

“I grew up in a circus. I know how to throw knives; throwing…” Richard trailed

“Batarangs.” Alfred supplied.

“Batarangs won’t be that much different.” Richard cast Alfred a thankful glance.

“On the contrary, batarangs are not balanced like knives. It’s harder than you think.” Bruce responded.

Richard huffed.

“You just don’t want me in the fight,” Richard said.

“I don’t want you in the middle of it.” Bruce clarified.

Richard scoffed.

“That’s that same thing,” He said dryly.

“Look, you’re inexperienced with this line of work. The hero-villain world is different than the cop-criminal world. You’ll have to learn to adapt. Until you have done that, I’m keeping you out of the thick of the fray.” Bruce explained.

_ Shit, that’s sound logic.  _ Richard looked away in defeat.

“Fine, but I’m going on this...mission,” Richard said.

_ Man, it’s weird talking like this.  _

Bruce sighed and didn’t say anything else on the topic but walked over to the computer.

“Masks. Batcave to Watchtower and Mount Justice.” He said as he pulled up his cowl.

Two of the screens showed the other heroes. Superman and some of the League behind him on one and the teen heroes on the other. Richard noticed the heroes all look at him with an odd look then at the Bats. Batman noticed too. 

“This is Nightwing. He’ll be joining us on this mission. He’s new so this the perfect opportunity to see what he’s capable of.” Batman explained gesturing to Nightwing.

**_“Is that who I think it is under that mask?”_ ** Superman asked.

Batman nodded. Superman sighed.

“Anyway, this is about getting Deathstroke the Terminator. As you know, I’ve already assigned the teams, now we need to make a plan. Deathstroke isn’t going to be an easy catch.” Batman said.

**_“Where is he now?”_ ** Green Arrow asked.

“All we know was that he was in Metropolis and is heading to Star City. As to where he’s based in either city is currently unknown. I’m looking into it.” Batman answered.

**_“Great.”_ ** Green Arrow replied.

“Now, we need to figure out who’s going where and doing what,” Batman said. “To remind everyone the teams are: Alpha - Myself, Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, Aqualad. Beta - Superman, Superboy, Black Canary, Flash, Kid Flash. Omega - Green Arrow, Artemis, Miss Martian, Martian Manhunter. Obviously, Alpha has more stealth components, so I propose the following: Alpha sneaks into the base and locates Deathstroke. Once found, Beta and Alpha engage. Omega will keep all other hostiles out of Alpha and Beta’s way. After that, Omega is free to join the fight. However, Wintergreen, Deathstroke associate, may be present, so Omega will take him is that is the case.” 

**_“Isn’t that a little overboard?”_ ** Aqualad asked.

“No, Deathstroke is a highly skilled mercenary and is not afraid to kill. He has military training. He and Wintergreen are military veterans and have a taste for cruelty. He has a healing factor, enhanced strength, agility, and durability. He is an expert swordsman, martial artist, and hand-to-hand combatant. He is on par with myself, even with Red Hood and Robin at my side, we lost.” Batman said.

Richard could tell some of the heroes were very nervous about Slade.

**_“Do we know anything about this Deathstroke other than what you just told us?”_ ** Black Canary asked.

“His real name is Slade Wilson,” Nightwing answered. “He has white hair, an eyepatch over his right eye, our left. He is 6’4” with a muscular build...Blue eyes.”

**_“How do you know all that? I mean that’s all really specific. I don’t even know all that about Captain Cold!”_ ** The Flash said.

Nightwing smirked.

“I have my ways and I’ve met him,” Nightwing replied.

**_“And lost?”_ ** Black Canary asked.

Nightwing chuckled.

“I didn’t fight him, I met him. He came and waiting for me in my room. He found me, but I did fight Wintergreen, and he beat my ass, broke my ribs by stomping on them, then said he was going easy on me.”

**_“How’d you find Wintergreen but not Deathstroke?”_ ** Superboy asked.

“I wasn’t looking for Wintergreen. I went to Deadshot to find out where Deathstroke was. Wintergreen had been trying to get Deadshot on board with something. He sensed me and a fight broke out. I...injured Deadshot’s leg and went to fight Wintergreen, which was a mistake. Anyway, I called the Bats and they helped me. I also made Deadshot my acquaintance. He apparently likes me.” Nightwing smiled.

**_“Oh yeah, he’s crazy.”_ ** Kid Flash muttered.

**_“If Deadshot likes him, he has to be some kind of weird,”_ ** Artemis muttered.

“You do know that just because you say it quietly, doesn’t really mean I can’t hear you,” Nightwing said politely.

Kid Flash and Artemis looked embarrassed.

**_“Sorry.”_ ** They said.

Nightwing laughed.

“No, don’t be. I’m very aware that I’m some kind of something.” He said.

“Bats, I like this one. Keep him.” Red Hood commented, receiving a batglare.

“What? It’s not like you haven’t already decided to make him permanent.” Red Hood defended.

“Hey, I haven’t decided if this is permanent,” Nightwing said.

Red Hood and Robin exchange a look.

“I haven’t!” Nightwing said, knowing what they were thinking.

“Oh yeah, he fits in.” Black Canary said.

Nightwing groaned.

“I have things to do,” Batman growled and ended the call.

“What things?” Robin asked.

“We’re taking Nightwing out on patrol,” Batman said.

Red Hood clapped a hand down onto Nightwing’s shoulder.

“This’ll be fun.” He grinned.


	13. Heroic Deeds

“Why did he think it was a good idea to shoot fire in the Rosenfield Timber plant?!” Nightwing yelled as he jumped over falling debris with Robin slung over his shoulder.

“His name is Firefly!” Red Hood yelled back, “It’s kind of his thing!”

Both of them had Batman by the arms and were helping him get outside. Nightwing was carrying Robin over his shoulder.  _ How the hell did I end up carrying Robin, and Batman getting hurt this badly?! _

* * *

 

Nightwing and Red Hood were patrolling the south and west side. They stood on a tall company office building. They made a good team. The two had stopped a bank robbery, a rape attempt, a kidnap attempt, and helped bust a drug lord. Patrol was almost over.

**_“Batman to Nightwing and Red Hood!”_ **

Nightwing and Red Hood’s hand flew up to their comlinks as they answered.

**_“Responding.”_ ** They said.

**_“Rosenfield Timber.”_ **

They began making their way to the plant, flipping and hurtling across the rooftops.

**_“Firefly, Penguin, and Catwoman are here. Batman’s holding off Penguin and Catwoman, but we need assistance! I can’t hold Firefly!”_ **

“We’re a few blocks away now!” Red Hood responded.

The two exchanged worried looks and increased their pace. They arrived in a matter of minutes. Nightwing and Red Hood could the flashes of orange light through the windows.  _ No doubt this Firefly man. _ The two jumped off the roof and aimed for the windows.

“I’ll help Batman. You help Robin.” Red Hood shouted over the wind as they jumped through the windows.

As Nightwing landed, he tucked into a roll and quickly got to his feet with the grace of the acrobat he was. Nightwing started sprinting to Robin. The bird was barely dodging the fireballs. Nightwing made his presence known by jumped and landed both feet on the custom flamethrower. He jumped off into a flip. Firefly stumbled off to the side in response. Firefly’s attention turned onto him. Nightwing nodded to Robin, and he nodded in return.

“You’re not the bat, but I’m sure you’ll cook the same!” Firefly yelled.

“Well yeah, we’re both human…” Nightwing responded with a ‘duh’ tone as he flipped over

Firefly just yelled louder and shot more fire. Nightwing noticed some of the logs near the wall caught on fire. 

“Hey, now, do you honestly think it’s a good idea to shoot fire in a timber plant?!” Nightwing warned.

Firefly didn’t seem to care as he shot more fire. Robin had been sneaking up behind Firefly to play with his suit. Nightwing acted as a decoy.  _ All according to plan. _ Not really know what to do, Robin stabbed the gas tank feeding the flamethrower with a birdarang. Firefly spun around.

“Robin! Move!” Nightwing yelled.

Robin dove out of the way of flames. The fire ignited the gas and began traveling up Firefly’s suit. Nightwing rushed forward and ripped the tank off and dropped it. He then shoved Firefly and Robin into moving away from the flames as the tank exploded. The explosion threw everyone off their feet. Nightwing heard someone grunt in pain as he yelped when his back slammed into a metal pole. He saw Robin get thrown into a couple of boxes and they fell on him. Firefly was nowhere to be found. 

“-wing! Robin! Where are you?!” Nightwing heard Red Hood shout over the roar of flames.

“Here!” He yelled as he struggled to get up.

He groaned as he got onto his hands and knees. He forced himself to get up and go over to the pile of logs Robin was under. Nightwing climbed up onto the boxes and looked around for Robin. He found him under one. Red Hood appeared out of the flames with Batman hanging off of him. Red Hood noticed Nightwing picking up Robin.

“Bats hit his head hard against the concrete. You and Rob okay?” Red Hood said.

“I was slammed against that pole.” Nightwing gestured to it. “Robin was thrown into the boxes,” Nightwing grunted as he helped support Batman and began hurrying out of the flames. “They fell on him.” He finished.

“Some first patrol, huh?” Red Hood said with a breathy laugh.

“You’re laughing...right now...you’re laughing,” Nightwing said exasperatedly.

Red Hood stopped.

“Why did he think it was a good idea to shoot fire in a Rosenfield Timber plant?!” Nightwing yelled as he jumped over falling debris with Robin slung over his shoulder.

“His name is Firefly!” Red Hood yelled back, “It’s kind of his thing!”

They were outside in the cool night air in minutes.

**_“Alfred! Bats and Robin were injured were sending them through zeta together. Nightwing’s hurt too, but he can stand.”_ ** Red Hood said, not waiting for Alfred to respond.

Red Hood rushed the four of them to the nearest zeta tube and stuffed Robin and Batman inside and sent them. Red Hood then put himself and Nightwing in, it was a tight fit and activated the tube. They stumbled out and helped Alfred with Batman and Robin. Nightwing couldn’t bend down due to the combined aggravation of his ribs and back. Red Hood noticed this and went up to Nightwing and straightened his back.

“You need to take your shirt off and sit on the examination table.” He said.

Nightwing began to protest but Red Hood was having none of it. 

“Just do it.” He growled.

Nightwing sighed and did as he was told. He painfully stripped his shirt off and sat down. He tried to look at his back but couldn’t. He could, however, see the bruising on his chest where his broken ribs were.  _ Jeez, I just can’t catch a break. _ Red Hood came up to him and told him to stay there until Alfred came. It wasn’t long until he did. The old butler poked and prodded at his back. Richard hissed in pain.

“How are the other two?” He asked.

“They’re fine, Master Richard. Both may have a concussion, but we won’t know until they wake.” Alfred answered.

“That’s” he hissed again, “good.” 

“You certainly bruised yourself very well. I’d think you tried to do this if I didn’t know what happened, Master Richard.” Alfred said.

Richard let out a breathy laugh.

“It seems everyone’s out for my torso. It’s because I look so good.” He said cockily.

He heard Jason laugh as he came in.

“Woah, that’s a bruise. Daaaamn.” He said and poked his back.

Richard arched his back away from the cold finger.

“Your hands are cold! And that hurt!” He yelped.

Only to cause Jason to place his whole hand on Richard’s back. The male laughed as Richard yelped, jumped away, and complained to Alfred that Jason was molesting him.

* * *

 

Richard was laying in his hotel bed for the first time in days. A knock came at the door. Groaning, he got up and answered it. Gordon was in the hallway, food in hand.

“Hey, heard you got roughed up...from Batman.” He said.

“You talked to Batman?” Richard asked.

“Yes, he also told me about the whole Nightwing business,” Gordon said.

Richard looked at Gordon.

“I can explain.” He started.

“Batman already told me the deal.” Gordon interrupted. “This means you knew the Bat gang’s identities for a while now.”

“Yes…” He said.

“It was awfully hard not to give away that I knew.” Gordon smiled. “It’s actually kind of a relief.”

Richard looked at him with wide eyes.

“Yeah, I knew. He said something one time that gave him away. Although, I am kind of pissed that you got involved with that business.” Gordon grumbled as he handed Richard food. 

“It’s not permanent,” Richard said.

Gordon scoffed.

“It’s always not permanent,” Gordon muttered.

“Why is everyone saying that?! I’m not fit to be a hero.” Richard responded.

“Why do you say that?” Gordon asked. “It seems every time something about this kind of business comes up you say that line. ‘I’m not fit to be a hero.’ So why is that?” 

“I just…” Richard trailed.

“You don’t know why, do you?” Gordon asked.

“I just get a feeling. Every time it comes up and I know I did something bad, but I don’t remember it.” Richard sighed.

“Well, no matter what, you, kid, are a hero. I don’t know what you did, but I know you’ll make up for it.” Gordon said.

Richard heard a laugh from the window. Both detectives spun their heads to the window. Deathstroke was already standing inside the room when they processed him.

“He’ll pay off his debts in hell.” He said menacingly as he drew his sword.


	14. Rememory

The situation did not look good. Richard was injured and unarmed; Gordon was way too slow to pull his gun and stood no chance against Deathstroke. Overall they were fucked and the moment Richard realized all of this he cursed. Gordon fired off a round and Richard pressed on the communicator in his ear. 

“Deathstroke at the hotel! Need back up! Now!” He yelled as he watched.

Deathstroke’s armor protected him against the bullets, and he simply walked up to Gordon and punched him unconscious. The older detective fell. Deathstroke turned to Richard, standing over the detective.

“You’ve been becoming a real thorn in my side. Having Batman on my tail along with the rest of the League, really? I was hoping you’d find me yourself.” He said, sheathing his sword.

“What do you want?” Richard asked, accepting the situation.

“To talk, nothing more. Although, I guess I could really say I’m here to get you, Batman, the League, everyone off my ass.” He said.

“How do you plan on doing that?” Richard asked.

Deathstroke pulled out a USB drive from his belt. The one eye Richard could see had a mischievous gleam to it.

“And showing me a USB drive does what exactly?” Richard asked.

“This” he tapped the drive, “has everything you need to know about those two years you don’t remember,” Deathstroke said.

“Is that the only copy?” Richard asked.

_ I know it’s not, but let’s see if he lies.  _ To Richard’s surprise, Deathstroke laughed.

“You’re not that stupid. You are simply trying to determine if I’d lie. Of course not. I have two other copies.” He said.

Richard nodded.

“So what do you want for it?” Richard asked.

_ Everyone off his ass, but how the hell am I supposed to do that. _ Richard thought about how to get the heroes to corporate.  _ Speaking of heroes, where are Batman, Robin, and Red Hood. They should have been here already.  _

“You already know the answer to that.” He purred.

“I’m not sure how you want me to go about doing that,” Richard replied.

He stole a glance at the window.  _ No Batman or anyone. Where the hell are they? _

“Wondering where the Bats are?” Deathstroke questioned.

Richard said nothing but looked at him. Deathstroke chuckled.

“They’re a bit busy. Joker owed me so I finally cashed in with him,” He said.

That had Richard panicking a little.

“Don’t worry I told Joker not to kill any of them,” Deathstroke said.

“It’s the Joker” Richard deadpanned.

“True,” Deathstroke said and threw the USB drive at Richard. “Here.”

Richard caught in one hand and inspected it.  _ It looks undamaged. _ He looked back at Deathstroke, who was still standing over Gordon.

“How do I know what you say is true? How do I know two years of my life are on here? How do I know it’s not all fabricated?” Richard fired off question after question.

“You will know because it will probably trigger your memory. After that, you probably won’t need that thing.” Deathstroke answered.

Richard stared at the mercenary.

“So you’re taking a gamble based on something you can’t control. That seems awfully risky and very unlike you, a professional who must control every little thing.” He commented.

Deathstroke had turned away from him and was walking towards the window. He looked over his shoulder at Richard.

“How do you know I don’t have control over this?” Deathstroke said cockily.

The grin was evident in his voice and Richard wasn’t sure how to respond, so he didn’t. He watched Deathstroke leave, leaving the detective pondering on whether or not to bite this obvious bait. Richard pondered the pros and cons as he painfully got down to Gordon’s side. He shook the older detective. It took a few times before he woke. The older detective looked around warily.

“He’s gone,” Richard answered.

“What happened?” Gordon groaned as he sat up.

Richard thought out his response.  _ What am I going to say? ‘Oh, well the crazy mercenary gave me a flash drive that shows my missing two years that I don’t remember. Of course, in return, I end the manhunt on him and help him. Haha!’ That’ll just make me sound crazy! _ He looked at Gordon.

“He just wanted to interrogate me about the Bats.” Richard lied.

“Here I was thinking Deathstroke was after you, on a contract.” Gordon huffed as he and Richard stood.

“You know, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was. I’m pretty awesome.” Richard joked.

“You should probably contact Batman,” Gordon suggested.

“Right, yeah,” Richard said and reached for his comlink. “Nightwing to Batman.”

**_“Red Hood responding.”_ **

Richard looked at Gordon and mouthed Red Hood. In the background, Richard could hear gunshots, thuds, and grunts.

“What’s going on? Where are the other two?” He asked.

**_“Busy. Joker decided to throw a party. What do you need?”_ ** Red Hood responded.

The question was followed by many loud gunshots.  _ He’s brought out his guns. _

“I had a little run-in with Deathstroke. We didn’t fight or anything. Do you need assistance?” Richard replied.

Gordon gave him a stern look.

**_“You’re injured, so don’t think about coming here. What did Deathstroke want?”_ ** Red Hood responded.

“How about I go to the Manor and wait for you there? I’ll tell you then.” Richard responded.

**_“Yeah, okay. See you then.”_ ** Red Hood ended their conversation.

Richard looked at Gordon.

“They’re busy. I’m going to the Manor to wait for them. You should go home, maybe get that nose checked out. Deathstroke punched your lights out pretty hard.” Richard advised.

“I’ve had worse, but alright,” Gordon responded, but agreed nonetheless.

Both officers got their coats, guns, badges, and keys before leaving the room. Richard, mindful of his injuries, got on his motorcycle and started it. He nodded at Gordon, who was in his car, made sure he had the flash drive and left for Wayne Manor. Richard neared the abandoned part of Gotham and could hear the fight between Joker and the Bats. He really wanted to help but knew that he would just get in the way with his injuries hindering him. He upped the throttle and zoomed towards Wayne Manor. Arriving in the circular driveway, he parked the bike and went up to the door. He knocked and waited for Alfred’s polite greeting. The Batler, as Jason called him, opened the door and stepped aside to allow Richard in. He stepped in and hung his jacket up, putting his keys in his pant pocket. 

“To what do we owe the pleasure, Master Richard?” Alfred asked.

“This,” Richard said as he pulled the flash drive from his pocket.

“And that is?”Alfred trailed.

“Deathstroke gave this to me and said it had all I needed to know about those two years,” Richard explained.

“Are you certain what he says is true?” Alfred questioned.

“No, but, in return, I said I get everyone off his ass.” They began walking to the Batcave. “If he lied then I’ll bring in the cavalry to hunt him down.” He answered.

The two men entered the cave. Red Hood, Batman, and Robin hadn’t returned yet. 

“Shall we look at it now?” Alfred suggested.

Richard looked at the technology in his hand. 

“...No.” He answered.

“There’s no need to be scared of a mere flash drive, Master Richard,” Alfred advised.

“That’s not it. I just don’t want it to delete itself or something.” Richard defended.

_ If that’s even possible. Alfred’s right, Dick. You’re scared of what’s on here. Just look at it.  _ Richard’s hand twitched. He turned to the computer.

“If you’d like, I could do it,” Alfred offered, attempting to ease Richard.

“...No, I need to do this.” Richard replied, giving Alfred a thankful glance and a small smile.

Leaning forward, Richard plugged the drive in. The computer took a moment to read the information before displaying it. The screen was filled with files.  _ Lexcorp. Cadmus. Wayne Enterprises. Police Records. What is this? _ Richard continued to read the file names.  _ William Cobb.  _ Richard hovered over that one but read on. _ Tony Zucco… _ Richard took a moment to process the name.  _ Why does that sound familiar? _ Richard puzzled, then he remembered. His eyes widened. _ ...He’s the mobster. _ Without a second thought, he clicked the file. Information on Zucco’s crimes and operation filled the screen.  _ Gotham. Atlanta. Star City. Metropolis. Boston. Have I been to all those cities?  _ Richard clicked the Gotham file.  _ Bases. Business. Crimes. This is more of a criminal database.  _ He clicked on crimes. The first file was titled Haly’s Circus.

“Master Richard, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Alfred asked.

“No,” Richard said as he clicked the file.

There were documents on how much money Zucco got out of the Circus, how long it’s been going on, how he convinced the Circus, and there were pictures of Zucco and various Circus performers. Towards the end of the file was a death certificate for Tony Zucco and a police report.  _ Deathstroke said this showed the two years...Did I kill Tony Zucco?! _ Richard opened the death certificate. He and Alfred read it.  _ Cause of Death: Fell 8 stories, died on impact.  _ Richard huffed a laugh. _ Fitting.  _ He backed out and opened the police report.  _ Reason to believe foul play. Zucco was a mob boss with many known enemies, however, there is no evidence to support the idea. _ He and Alfred exchanged a look.  _ Did I do that? _ Richard read on and found a peculiar word that had nothing to do with the report.

“Broken bird?” Richard muttered.

The moment he finished saying those words, a sharp, high-pitched noise shocked him. He clutched at his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. He could barely hear Alfred’s worried words. He was about to answer when memories streamed into existence. He recalled himself talking, fighting, and going on missions with Deathstroke. He remembered training with William Cobb and who William Cobb was. Deathstroke was right, the drive did cause him to remember everything. The noise slowly stopped, as did the memories. When he came to, he was laying on the cold floor covered in a cold sweat. Alfred had cushioned his head in his lap and Tim, Jason, and Bruce were above him. Each of them talking to Richard. Their voices overlapping.

“Are you okay?”

“What happened?”

“What did Deathstroke do?”

“What’s with the files”

“Can you hear me?”

“Do you remember anything?”

“Do you know why you collapsed?”

Richard was being overwhelmed with the questions and opened his mouth to answer. 

“Can you talk?”

“Can you tell us what happened?”

“Did you hurt yourself when you fell?”

“How are your ribs?”

“How’s your back?”

Richard struggled to respond. He looked at Alfred with pleading eyes.

“Gentlemen, perhap-” Alfred started but was cut off.

“Where’s Deathstroke?”

“What did he say to you?”

“Who’s Tony Zucco?”

“You muttered William Cobb. Who’s that?”

“Gentlemen!” Alfred yelled. 

They stopped asking questions.

“Perhaps we should allow Master Richard a moment to collect himself. Being greeted by thousands of questions tends to overwhelm a person.” He said sternly.

The bats look a bit guilty as they helped Richard up. Jason just sighed and picked him up by the shoulders and told Tim to grab his feet. Together, they carried Richard to a medical bed.

“I can walk,” Richard mumbled.

“You just got mindfucked. We’re not letting you walk.” Jason growled.

Alfred brought Richard a glass of water. He downed it in one gulp before looking at everyone. Bruce was standing at the door, Jason and Tim were at the side of the bed, and Alfred was standing directly next to Richard on the right.

“What happened?” Bruce growled.

Richard gulped before closing his eyes and putting his face in his hands.

“I’m a murderer, a criminal.” 


	15. Reveal

Jason scoffed from the side.

“You? A criminal?” He joked.

“I’m not being funny. I remember doing things for Deathstroke and William Cobb. I went on missions. I stole things and murdered 7 people. I even helped with some of the Light and Cadmus’ experiments.” Richard said seriously.

“Who’s William Cobb?” Bruce asked.

“He’s an Owl in the Court of Owls. A top dog. I acted as his Talon and a mercenary who worked with Deathstroke. I don’t know why they let me go, but they did.” Richard said. 

His hand was twitching at his side and he put it under his thigh.  _ Of course, I’m lying. They let me go so I could act as a spy without even knowing it. Along with project Kr and ‘Roy Harper’, but the League already knows about them. _ Richard notices Bruce’s narrowed eyes.  _ Shit, he knows my tell.  _ Richard told them about how he got the drive and his encounter with Deathstroke. 

“Why would he want us off his ass?” Jason asked.

“It could be that the Light is making a big move. We still don’t know that much about them or the Court of Owls.” Tim pointed out. 

“We have someone who does though,” Jason smirked.

All of them looked at Richard. He sighed.  _ Damn it.  _

“The Light is made up of Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, Vandal Savage, The Brain, Ra’s Al Ghul, and Klarion. They do work with Deathstroke, Black Manta, and the Court. Their goal is to allow humanity to evolve by removing the League and other heroes from the equation. We see you as an obstruction that is preventing the needed factors to evolve. I do not know what they are planning now, but last time it was divide and conquer.” Richard said.

“Divide and conquer? That must be the time there were two existing worlds. Children and Adults.” Tim said.

Bruce nodded.

“What about the Court?” He asked.

“The Court of Owls is made up of workers, Talons, and Owls. The Owls are the top dogs. The Talons act as agents to carry out the Owls orders. Said orders vary from assassinations to thefts to reconnaissance. The Court has resources everywhere, in the government, businesses, law enforcement. They are based here in Gotham. Their goal is to control.” Richard droned.

“And you were apart of them? As a Talon?” Jason asked.

“Yes,” Richard confirmed.

“Who’d you kill?” Tim asked.

The question received glares from Jason and Bruce.

“What? He did say he was a murderer.” Tim defended.

He turned to Richard.

“So, who’d you kill?”

“Darcy Ruth, Tony Zucco, Styles Ramon, Andrew Gibbons, Lara Micheals, Alex Porter, and Luis Calvan,” Richard answered. “I’m willing to receive punishment for them.” He added.

That took the bats by surprise.

“We’re not going to send you to jail. There has to be something that proves that all of this was against your will or you were brainwashed or something, right?” Jason said.

“Brainwashing, Richard was a child who lost everything and then suddenly two adults come into his life and, in fear of being alone, he did whatever they wanted,” Tim added.

“Did you say you were related to one of them?” Bruce asked.

“William Cobb, he’s my great grandfather…” Richard answered.

“We could so argue brainwashing. It would be so easy.” Jason said happily.

“I may have been brainwashed, but that doesn’t clean the blood off my hands,” Richard argued.

“No, but working as Nightwing might,” Bruce said, smirking.

Richard sighed.

“I know you guys want to, I don’t know, protect me, but I still broke the law, many times,” Richard said.

“You’re a cop. In my opinion, you’ve already started making up for that.” Jason commented.

“What pushed you to be an officer of the law?” Tim asked.

“I wanted to help people,” Richard answered immediately.

“So no ill will. You were quick to answer the question with that, so your true intentions are to help as much as possible.” Bruce deduced.

“Besides, I have killed people,” Jason added.

“They were criminals. That’s different.” Richard excused.

“Different how?” Bruce asked.

“They had broken the law and hadn’t been caught. Justice needed to be served and it just so happened that it was one of Red Hood's bullets.” Richard said.

“Just because they broke the law doesn’t mean their lives mean less than ours,” Bruce growled.

“We’re not having this argument again,” Jason said.

“What if we prove that your victims were criminals?” Tim asked.

“I guess that would make the crime less severe, but I still took a life,” Richard said.

“You’re a detective. I’m sure you’ve shot and killed someone while on the job.” Jason said.

“I mean yeah, but they were all kill or be killed situations,” Richard argued.

“Were they? You worked in Bludhaven and now Gotham, there had to have been a few that weren’t kill or be killed.” Jason defended.

“No, I know what you’re getting at. I’m not and never was corrupt.” Richard growled.

“So you’re saying you never shot a man who, say, raped and killed a whole family, or a woman who killed her whole family and said they deserved it. You haven’t shot someone who did something similar to what Zucco did to your family?” Jason asked, getting heated.

“No!” Richard exclaimed.

“Bullshit, I don’t believe that,” Jason growled.

“I only pull my gun when deemed absolutely necessary or when I think I need it.” Richard defended.

“After working in two very corrupt cities, you have not killed someone when it could’ve gone another way?” Jason asked.

“For the last time, I have not killed someone in cold blood,” Richard growled.

“What about in hot blood? Someone you hated with a passion and in the fray, you purposely sought them out and killed them.” Jason asked.

Richard hesitated.

“No.” He said. 

His hand twitched.

“You’re lying. Who was it?” Jason asked.

“No one,” Richard answered.

His hand twitched again.

“Who was it?” Jason asked again.

“Officer Jackson McKinley.” Richard ground out.

“It was even a fellow officer,” Jason smirked in victory.

“We were doing a raid and gunfire broke out. Someone had thrown teargas, I didn’t see him. I didn’t mean to shoot him...but I didn’t try to save him. He was the reason half of the organized crime knew when we were coming to raid them. He beat his wife and kid. I didn’t think he deserved to live any longer.” Richard said cruelly.

“Well look at that. Golden Boy has a dark side.” Jason smirked.

Richard glared at him.

“Regardless, I need to know what you remember.” Bruce broke in.

Richard told them about the missions, what he stole, who he spied on, who he reported to, and what objectives he had.

“What about the work you did with Cadmus?” Bruce asked.

“It’s all on the drive,” Richard stated. “At least I think it’s all there.”

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Richard before continuing.

“Jason, Tim, go save all the data on that drive to the main computer.” He ordered.

The two left, leaving Richard with Alfred and Bruce.  _ Alfred hasn’t said much of anything.  _ Bruce crossed his arms.  _ Oh shit. _

“Why’d you lie about why they let you go?” Bruce asked.

Richard went to deny it when Bruce cut him off.

“Don’t try to deny it. I saw your hand twitch.” Bruce said.

Richard closed his mouth.

“You know about Project Kr, aka Superboy, and the Roy Harper clone,” Richard said.

Bruce nodded.

“I think I have the same programming,” Richard said.

“What makes you think that?” Bruce asked.

“Well, I remember going to Cadmus Labs, but I don’t remember what happened while I was there. I go in and talk to the same doctor and leave.” Richard recalled.

Bruce thought for a moment.

“We’ll have one of the Martians look for anything that resembles the programming in Superboy and the Roy Harper clone.” He said.

A thought clicked in Bruce’s mind.

“How did you know Red Arrow was Roy Harper?” He asked.

Richard thought for a moment.

“I think I know who all the heroes are…” Richard trailed.

“If Master Richard knows, does that mean the Court and, in turn, the Light knows?” Alfred asked.

“It’s a very real possibility,” Bruce answered.

“They don’t know,” Richard said confidently.

“How do you know that?” Bruce asked.

“Because I figured them all out and didn’t tell them. To my knowledge, only the Court and the League of Assassins know that Bruce Wayne is Batman, which also means they know Red Hood and Robin’s identities.” Richard reasoned.

“Guys!” Jason yelled as he burst into the room.

“What is it?” Bruce asked.

“We know what the Light is planning,” Tim said.


	16. Meetings

“What do you mean?” Richard asked.

“Okay, we were going through the files-” Tim started.

“Some really weird shit in there by the way,” Jason added.

“And we noticed that there were factories all over the world. The company that owns them is called Knowledge.” Tim said.

“This company produces educational aids like tablets and owns a lot of programs used in schools,” Jason informed.

“Not just junior high and high schools either, their stuff is also used in colleges and army bases.” Tim expanded.

“So we, which by we I mean Tim with my encouragement, got to thinking why that stuff would be in the file. Turns out Richard, or as he was called The Raven, Deathstroke, and Luthor were stationed there and helped with the distribution part of the operation.” Jason said.

“Along with that, Lex Luthor and Queen Bee donated millions in total and material resources. Now, why would such resources be used in some factories?” Tim asked.

“Knowledge must have some importance to the Light.” Bruce deducted.

“Exactly,” Jason said.

“That doesn’t explain what they’re planning. Hell, that just means they have eyes everywhere, but we already knew that.” Richard replied. 

“Do you have any memories of this?” Bruce asked.

“I remember working with Slade. We made sure no packages were damaged and kept people out.” Richard answered. “I don’t know what it was for though. I may have been a high ranking member, but I was never told about the major plans the Light or the Court had in motion.”

“High ranking mem...Whatever that’s for later, but we had Lucius Fox do some research for us. He found some information in Lex Luthor's personal computer.” Jason continued.

“He sent that information to us. It’s basically Cadmus’ work with clones, just a way for indirect programming. Their technology is used and it somehow puts the Cadmus coding inside the human brain, which we didn’t think possible. However, there is no real evidence that it works. Con and Roy are both clones. Dick’s an actual human, the first human to have programming. That’s something worth looking into.” Tim reasoned.

Jason looked at Tim.

“...Con?” He said.

Tim got flustered and looked away.

“We’re close. Anyway, I think we should look into any possible programming in Richard.” He said.

“I agree. I’ll get one of the Martians.” Bruce said. “Let’s take him to the Mountain.”

Jason and Tim exchanged a look. Jason shrugged and left to get him and Tim some sunglasses.

“I’m going to go suit up,” Bruce said as he left.

_ And then there were three. Alfred hasn’t said anything. _ Richard looked at the old butler.

“What do you think?” He asked.

Alfred looked a bit surprised.

“...I believe you will do a lot of good for this world, even though you do not see yourself as a man who is worthy of the title hero. I know you will try to redeem yourself but there is no need to. However, you will never be redeemed to yourself. I believe you play a key factor in stopping whatever evil acts. I’m just glad to bear witness.” Alfred said.

Alfred’s speech left Richard wordless.  _ I knew he was observant, but I didn’t think I was an open book… _

“Thank you?” He replied unsurely.

“Damn, Alfred, you sure know how to make people speechless,” Jason said from the door.

He and Tim were now donning dark sunglasses and sweatshirt. Jason in a red one and Tim in a black one. Jason was holding a green sweatshirt, black pants, and another pair of sunglasses. 

“These are for you. Go change.” Jason said.

Richard took the clothes and changed. He wasn’t really sure about the glasses.  _ Don’t they already know my identity? _ He put them on anyway and went back. Bruce was Batman and he, Jason, and Tim looked the same. They just varied in color and height. Bruce smirked.

“The three musketeers.” He muttered to Alfred not so quietly.

Alfred chuckled.

“The Bat Boys.” He added.

Bruce huffed a laugh.

The three weren’t sure how to respond, so none of them did. Richard gave him a dry look.

“Come on. Miss Martian is already waiting for us.” Batman said as he walked towards the zeta tube.

The four stepped through and entered Mount Justice. They were greeted by a preppy Martian and some of the newer members of the team. Richard noticed the redhead with the bat symbol on her chest and raised an eyebrow.

“Batgirl,” Jason said.

“I didn’t know she existed,” Richard replied softly.

“Wow, I’m a bat and the newest bat doesn’t even know my name. Interesting given I know a lot about you.” She responded.

“Hey now, I’m new to all this. Cut some slack.” Richard whined.

“Not according to a certain mercenary.” She said cockily.

Richard stiffened a bit.  _ I do not want to be known as the man who was on both sides. I’ll be doubted.  _

“Miss Martian, this is the person I was talking about,” Batman informed as he gestured to Richard.

She looked a bit confused at the secrecy. She knew she hadn’t seen his face, but the bats were viewed as overly secretive to her.

“Haven’t we met before…” She said.

“I believe we have...briefly” He replied.

“Oh! In the video message!” She remembered.

Richard chuckled and nodded.

“We need you to check Nightwing for any programming similar to that of Superboy’s and the Roy Harper clone.” Batman reminded.

Miss Martian gave a shy laugh.

“Right.” She muttered. “Follow me.”

The green girl levitated before flying away. Richard and Batman followed. Jason and Tim stayed behind to hang out with the team. Miss Martian lead them to a medical room and told Richard to lay down on the table. He did. She went up to his head and placed both hands on the sides of his head. She gave him a supportive smile.

“Ready?” She asked.

He nodded.

“Okay.” She said.

A split second later, Richard could feel her looking around inside his head.  _ What does my mind look like? _ It was a few seconds later that she stopped. It was the memory of Cadmus.  _ Going in, talking to the doctors, leaving. _ She hovered over it and then left his mind. Her hands left his head.

“There is some programming, and, for the time being, it’s inactive. As long as no other code comes in contact with it, he’s all himself.” She said cheerfully.

“He’s not a clone?” Batman questioned.

Miss Martian blinked at Batman.

“...no.” She trailed.

“So he’s the only human we know of that has Cadmus programming,” Batman confirmed.

“Yes.” She said, realizing the importance.

“How could that happen?” Batman asked.

“It would have to have been a powerful telepath with the ability to reroute the brain to respond to certain keywords. I don’t think I or Uncle J’onn are able to do that, and Uncle J’onn is the most powerful telepath we know.” Miss Martian answered.

“What about a group of telepaths?” Batman asked.

“No, they’d be too chaotic to manage anything other than destroying the mind of whoever they’re connected to.” Miss Martian responded.

“Then how is he possible?” Batman wondered.

Miss Martian looked a little lost and shrugged. Batman sighed.

“Dismissed.” He said.

Miss Martian left and Batman looked at him.

“You might as well go meet the team. I have some business to take care of.” Batman said.

Richard threw his legs over the bed and his boots touched the floor. He stood.

“Alright…” He said.

They left the room and Batman showed him to the common room. The team was much bigger than Richard initially thought. There were at least ten casually dresses teens. He hovered in the doorway and watched as they interacted with each other. Jason was currently telling them about the disastrous fight with Firefly, Penguin, and Catwoman. He felt Batman behind him, hovering as well. Richard waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. Batman placed a hand on his shoulder and left. Richard observed them. He stood there for around fifteen minutes before Jason noticed him.

“Hey, it’s Golden Boy! Get in here!” He shouted.

Richard smiled a little before walking in. The team members looked at him with confusion and curiosity. He did a two finger wave.

“Nightwing.” He said smoothly.

“How long were you standing there?” A blonde asked.

“Around fifteen minutes. You guys do not pay attention to your surroundings.” He said.

The blonde huffed.

“Artemis.” She said.

“Miss Martian, but you can call me M’gann or Megan. That’s my Earth name.” M’gann said.

“Kid Flash aka Wally West.” A redheaded boy said from his place on the couch.

“Aqualad. Kaldur’ahm is my real name, but people call me Kaldur.” the dark-skinned teen said.

“Batgirl.” Came a firm voice.

“Superboy. Connor Kent.” Said a rather grumpy voice.

La’gaan, aka Lagoon Boy.” The other Atlantean said.

“Jaime Reyes, Blue Beetle.” This one actually came up and shook his hand.

“I’m Zatanna.” A little wave.

“Rocket, Raquel Ervin.” A nod.

“Beast Boy, Garfield Logan.” A sweet smile.

“Wonder Girl, Bumblebee, Guardian 3, and Static, sometimes, are also on the team. Are you a new addition or just a bat?” Zatanna asked.

“Not sure.” He replied.

“We’ve heard a lot from Red Hood and Robin.” Kaldur gestured to them.

“Hope it was all good things.” He smiled.

“Heroic, actually, but I want to know what you think you’re doing,” Batgirl said.

Richard raised a brow.

“I know things. About you. None of which explain why you’re doing this and not your day job.” She responded in a slight hiss.

“I suppose you’ll have to find out.” He replied cockily.

She glared at him.

“Come now, you’re a bat, so be one and figure it out yourself.” He challenged.

“I think I will.” She growled.

He laughed.

“I’m considered a genius in my field, but you already knew that. Either way good luck.” He smirked.

“I don’t need luck.” She growled.

“Oh, I think you do.” He replied.

“I don’t know what this is about, but is he actually a good guy?” Kid Flash questioned.

Nightwing looked at him and smiled. Batman came up behind him.  _ Time to go. _

“I don’t consider myself one.” With that, he left.

“What kind of answer was that?!” Kid Flash yelled.

Batman gave him a look of question. Richard simply smiled.


	17. Accidents and People

_Richard was running in a concrete maze. He didn’t know what from, but he knew it was bad. He skidded to the right only to run straight into a wall. A dead end. Footsteps thundered behind him. A crowd of people coming after him. Desperately, he searched for an escape. Seeing none, he turned and prepared for a fight, arms raised and ready to strike. The second a figure came into his field of vision he lashed out. His power fist aiming for the figures face, only for it to be caught by a gloved hand. Richard followed the arm and recognized that it was Batman, but instead of feeling relief, he felt immense fear and dread. Behind the Bat stood the others: Robin, Red Hood, and Batgirl. Batman said something, but Richard only saw his mouth move. Then the Dark Knight had Richard on the floor, pinned. The next thing Richard knew he was in a jail cell with Joker to his left and Zsas to his right. Richard was dressed in a straight jacket. He crazily slammed against the steel bars and screamed._

Detective Richard Grayson shot up in his bed as the nightmare rocked his mind. He let out a shaky breath and put his head in his hand. _Third night in a row._ Richard didn’t believe in dream analysis, but it seemed like his mind was trying to reveal something to him. At first, he just believed the dream was a side effect of believing he’s a guilty criminal, but now, it didn’t seem like that. He looked at the glowing red numbers on the clock. _2:18 AM._ He sighed. _I won’t be able to go back to sleep._ Richard got up, took a shower, got dressed, and grabbed his keys, gun, and escrima sticks. He left his room and straddled his bike. Turning the key in the ignition and putting his helmet on, he revved the engine before going for a night ride. The streets were empty and dead with everyone in their homes, he could go as fast as he wanted. As he zoomed down the quiet, crime-infested streets of Gotham at 2:45 in the morning, he thought about everything until now. Unknown to him, a shadowed figure was following him from the rooftops. Richard was going 80 in a 45 on a long, straight road. He looked up at the sky. _I wonder if Red Hood or one of the other bats is patrolling tonight._ Richard’s tired mind didn’t comprehend the figure diving straight for the road in front him until the figure was close, rising from their landing. Richard swerved to the left which caused his bike and himself to roll across the pavement. His back slammed into a building and stopped. The front of his helmet was cracked and his clothes torn and scuffed from the hard asphalt and concrete. Richard could see the black booted feet walking towards him. He got up on the elbows with some effort. One of the feet stomped on his back, pushing him back to the concrete with a grunt.

“Hello.” The figure said.

_What is up with that voice? It’s like a thousand voices in one, must be a vocoder._

“Hey,” Richard responded.

“So, you’re the famed Richard Grayson, huh?” The figure said.

“I wouldn’t say famed, but yeah,” Richard replied.

_Well, this is normal. Me being under this guy’s foot. Totally normal conversation._

“You’re renowned in the Light and almost all other organizations.” The figure seems to argue.

“What do you want?” Richard asked.

“Ah, now you’re actually being a detective. Here I was worried you were a complete letdown, but you’re only three-fourths of a letdown. Congratulations.” The figure said.

“You didn’t answer the question.” Richard pointed out.

“What I want…” The figure thought for a moment. “I want my beloved. You know what I’m talking about?”

Richard blinked from his place under the figure.

“Your...beloved?” He asked.

_Why does that sound familiar?_

“Clearly you don’t.” The figure replied.

“I’m not your beloved right? I can tell you now, I’m a nuisance to humanity and I have crazy ass work hours and-” Richard began to rant.

The figure laughed.

“No. You are not.” The figure answered.

“So then, why am I still under your foot?” He asked.

“I come with a warning.” The figure said.

Richard stayed silent.

“You should be grateful. I was in Gotham for something that isn’t you, but our paths crossed and I figured I would be nice.” The figure said.

For a split second, Richard thought the figure could be Catwoman, but she lives in Gotham.

“Tell me the warning and then I’ll express all the gratitude you deserve,” Richard replied.

“People are coming after you, very powerful people. You should watch your back. The things they want to do to you…” The figure almost purred.

“Thanks,” Richard said dryly.

He could feel the glare.

“You call that gratitude?” The figure dug their foot further into his back.

“Thank you for the warning, I will keep it in mind, and I owe you.” He replied.

The pressure lessened.

“I’ll remember that you owe me.” The figure said.

The pressure disappeared. Richard looked up but didn’t see the figure. He slowly got up and looked around. _Gone._ He sighed as he walked over to his bike. There was a large skid mark across the asphalt. _Shit._ His motorcycle was dented in many places and the paint had been ripped off. He groaned as he picked it up. Checking the engine, he twisted the key in the ignition. His bike made a struggling noise. _Shiiiiiiiiit._ He repeated the action four times before the motorcycle started. He lifted his hands in victory.

“Yes!” He shouted.

He lifted his feet and drove to Wayne Manor.

* * *

 

To say Alfred was mildly annoyed with the insistent knocking at 3:20 in the morning would be an understatement.

“Who in God’s name is up at this hour...They better have a good reason for knocking on my door at 3 in the morning.” He grumbled.

He unlocked the door and opened it to see the detective. His face must’ve given away how he felt at the intrusion.

“I know, I’m so sorry, Alfred,” Richard said.

Upon looking at the detective, Alfred saw the rips in his clothes and, behind Richard, he saw the dented bike and cracked helmet. His annoyance was replaced with concern. He let Richard in and immediately lead him down to the Batcave. Alfred made Richard sit on the medical examination table as he looked at the cuts, scrapes, and bruises.

“Chill, Alfred. I was wearing the proper equipment. My legs are the worse things.” Richard tried to excuse.

It reminded Alfred of Bruce.

“Master Richard, if you don’t stay still and let me apply proper medical attention I will sedate you,” Alfred said politely.

“Okay, Mom.” Richard sassed.

Alfred glanced at Richard before tending to the wounds. After making sure nothing was broken, Alfred excused himself to wake Bruce. Red Hood was out patrolling with Robin. The boys wanted to give Bruce some sleep. _Oddly perfect timing._ Knocking on Bruce’s door, he entered the bedroom. Bruce heard the knock and was groggily getting up.

“What is it, Alfred?” He asked, sleep in his voice.

“Master Richard is downstairs. Something has happened that he wanted to speak to you about” Alfred answered.

Alfred heard the almost silent sigh ad Bruce got up. Alfred walked in front of Bruce as the two made their way down to the Batcave. Richard was still sitting atop the exam table. As soon as Richard saw Bruce in his pajamas, he apologized.

“Just tell me what you needed to talk to me about,” Bruce replied.

“Well…” Richard said as he explained what happened.

He left out the dream and said he couldn’t sleep, which was true.

“She said, beloved?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah,” Richard said.

 _Oh dear…_ Alfred exchanged a looked with Bruce. _Miss Talia…_

“Does that matter?” Richard asked.

Bruce gave Alfred a pointed look. _Of course, he entrusts me to explain…_

“Master Bruce is called Beloved by Miss Talia Al Ghul, daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul,” Alfred informed.

Richard made the connection and freaked out.

“She...She was an assassin?! The League of Shadows is after me?! I’m soooo dead!” He said loudly. “Man, this day hasn’t even started and it sucks! My bike is trashed, my helmet is cracked, I’m being targeted by who the hell knows, and I don’t know what the hell is going on with me!”

Alfred felt kind of bad for the young man.

“Well, you’re going to have to suck it up. You need to be on high alert from now on.” Bruce said.

 _Honestly, he could be so cold sometimes._ Alfred blamed that on his bluntness.

“I’m going to contact Red-” An alarm went off and the Batcave was plunged in darkness.


	18. Sound the Alarm

Dick immediately went on the defense. His eyes widened as they tried to adjust to the sudden darkness of the cave. 

“Alfred, behind me,” Bruce said in the dark.

Richard heard Alfred’s shoes shuffle on the rock floor. There was something off about the dead silence of the cave, even the bats were quiet. All Richard could hear was his blood rushing, his heart beating, and his, Alfred’s, and Bruce’s breathing. Trying to focus his senses, Richard closed his eyes.  _ It’s a cave no way will I be able to see anything. _ Richard hears very faint footsteps everywhere. The closest was a few feet to his left. Wasting no time, he pounced with his escrima sticks raised and tackled the person. The person yelped in surprise and Richard pummeled them. 

“Dick?!” Bruce shouted in the darkness.

“Not me,” Richard responded as he kept the person down.

Feeling for the person’s face, Richard heard footsteps by where Bruce was. Behind Bruce. 

“Bruce, Alfred!” Richard yelled in warning.

Finally groping the intruders face, Richard felt night vision goggles. He could hear the crack of Bruce’s fist against the assailants head.  _ That guy is not having a good day. _

“Now that’s cheating.” He said as he took them off the person.

He slipped them on and saw at least fifteen assailants, excluding the one underneath him and the one Bruce knocked out. Quickly choosing his next target, Richard quietly crept behind one of them and grabbed the night vision strap. Keeping the grip, he leaped over the person and yanked off the night vision goggles, then he swiftly knocked the person out with a forceful strike to the head. Upon closer inspection, Richard realized they were all young.  _ 20’s 30’s at the most. _ They were also dressed in some type of armor. It was state-of-the-art stuff but only worn on the hands, arms, and legs.  _ Armor on places of attack and block contact? Either low funds or this is a test run. Probably the first. _ Walking right up to Alfred, he placed his hand on Alfred’s shoulder. He felt him jump.

“Here,” Richard said quietly, but his voice carried throughout the cave.

_ Shit, I just drew attention to myself. They’ll come after me. _ Somehow, he was fine with that. Alfred slipped on the goggles and realized the situation. All hands on deck. Looking around, Richard noticed none of the intruders had moved an inch.  _ What are they waiting for? They could easily take us out, and we already took out two of their members! _ Richard felt the air on his back. He dove to the side. A sword slammed into the ground he had been standing on. Following the blade, Richard came in eye contact with Ra’s Al Ghul. He did not have on night vision goggles, but his eyes glowed a bright green.  _ Shit, can he see just fine in this darkness?! _ Ra’s raised his sword for another strike. He brought it down and Richard barely managed to block the blade with his escrima sticks in an X. Deciding that Bruce needed his cowl, Richard shoved the blade aside and made a mad dash to where the uniforms were stored. He heard footsteps behind him, fast approaching. Risking a glance, Richard saw he was being chased by Ra’s Al Ghul himself. 

“Shit.” He cursed and put on speed.

“Better run, Little Bird.” Ra’s laughed.

That sparked something in his mind that kind of made him feel he wasn’t running on his own free will.  _ That cannot be Cadmus programming! My keyword was broken bird!... Maybe it’s not best to think that… _ Taking a quick turn, Richard sprinted past the cowl and grabbed it as he passed. As he was retracting his arm, Ra’s sword nicked his arm.  _ A small cut. _ Aware that Ra’s was catching up, Richard made an effort to gain a lead by making quick turns here and there. It didn’t work. As he finally entered the room Bruce was in, Ra’s took a swipe at his leg and cut into Richard’s calf. Richard fell and turned to face Ra’s from the ground.

“Come now, Broken Bird, fight!” Ra’s spurred.

Fight Richard did as, against his will, he got up and got into an offensive stance. After stabilizing, Richard lunged forward, an electrified escrima stick raised. Batman’s cowl was on the cave floor along with a small puddle of Richard's blood. Ra’s caught Richard’s stick and ripped it from his hand. In another attempt, Richard slammed the other stick into Ra’s’ side. The assassin huffed a breath. Feeling slightly victorious and cocky, Richard electrified the stick, but that was a major mistake. Ra’s grabbed Richard’s hand and twisted it to slam the electricity into Richard’s stomach. Gritting his teeth and making a pained noise, Richard convulsed at the electricity coursing through his body.  _ So that how this feels. _ Dropping the stick, Richard caught his breath and went to punch Ra’s. Ra’s grinned as he caught the punch and twisted Dick’s arm around and pinned him. Pressure on Richard’s shoulder told him that Ra’s was thinking about dislocating it.  _ Please don’t. I get injured all the time, man. _ Just as Richard felt Ra’s begin to pull on his arm, Bruce, in the Batman cowl, smashed his fist into Ra’s Al Ghul’s face. The assassin leader stumbled back and let go of Richard’s arm. Bruce was dogpiled by a bunch of the assassins. Springing into action, Richard and Alfred worked to uncover Bruce. Richard would throw assassins off Bruce and knock them to the ground for Alfred to knock out. It was an effective system for the two seconds it lasted. Ra’s came up behind Alfred and took him hostage. Positioning his blade at the old butler’s neck. Richard froze as he faced Ra’s.

“Off the Batman.” Ra’s ordered.

As the words left his mouth, the assassins got off of Bruce and allowed him to stand. He froze as well. 

“I want the detective, Bruce. Nothing else.” Ra’s said.

“Why? What’s so important about him?” Bruce asked.

“I’ll go with you,” Richard said.

Bruce glared at him in the darkness. Ra’s snapped his fingers and the assassins took off the night vision goggles. The lights came on. Richard tore the goggles off as it blinded him. He looked around, his sight blurry and eyes hurting as the sudden light stimulated them. Bruce was unfazed.  _ Jerk. _

“We need the child.” Ra’s replied. “And he seems willing to come.” 

As a reminder of what was at stake, Ra’s pressed the blade further into Alfred’s neck. Richard could see the skin struggle with the weight. 

“No need for anyone else to get hurt, I’ll come with you.” Richard reasoned.

“I need the Bat to understand that.” Ra’s said.

“He understands, now put the blade down,” Richard said carefully as he slowly approached.

“No, Richard. He’s with the Light!” Bruce protested.

“A trade. Alfred for me, that’s fair.” Richard said.

The blade pressed deeper, a thin line of blood dripped down Alfred’s neck. Richard stopped.

“Put the sword down.” He growled.

“Oh, the child has a backbone.” Ra’s said with a grin.

“Me for Alfred. That’s fair.” Richard said through gritted teeth.

Ra’s lessened the pressure on Alfred’s throat but didn’t take the blade away from Alfred.

“I suppose.” Ra’s responded.

Letting go of Alfred and shoving him forwards, Richard caught the older man and made eye contact. Quickly checking the butler’s throat, he gave Alfred a small smile before walking to Ra’s. He could tell Alfred didn’t want to let Richard go, but the butler and the Bat did nothing. However, as soon as Ra’s turned, Bruce lunged forwards and grabbed Dick’s arm and pulled him behind him. In a swift motion, Bruce grabbed Ra’s by the neck and lifted him two feet in the air. The other assassins went to assist their leader, but Ra’s raised a hand and stopped them.

“What, detective, are you going to kill me?” He taunted.

“You’d just go to the Lazarus Pit,” Bruce growled.

“Then what are-” Ra’s was cut off by Bruce’s tightening hand.

“Leave and tell whoever sent you that you failed.” He growled.

“What makes you think I was sent?” Ra’s choked out.

“Then why is the League of Shadows after Richard Grayson? Why is he important?” Bruce interrogated.

Ra’s laughed. Bruce was having none of it and strengthened his grip.

“Tell me!” He yelled.

“He knows things.” Ra’s said.

“What things?!” Bruce snarled.

Ra’s choked a laugh.

“Things.” He said.

“Like what?” Bruce growled again.

“Like what’s going to happen next.” Ra’s grinned.

Holding up his hand, Ra’s revealed a detonator. He pressed his thumb to the bright red button. Explosions went off all around them. Rocks fell from the ceiling. Bruce let go and tackled Alfred and Richard out of the way of a falling stone. More explosions rocked the cave. Startled, the bats flew around and caused more chaos. Richard quickly lost Alfred and Bruce. Trusting that Bruce would get Alfred out, Richard tried not to get crushed. As he finally saw a way out, he noticed Ra’s closing in pursuit. Richard also noticed a loose stone on the edge of the place where he could escape. With a smirk, Dick led Ra’s to the exit. Sprinting and jumping and diving to the exit, he readied his plan. Finally getting to the exit, he jumped up and swung himself up to stand on the loose rock. It was then he realized he didn’t have his escrima sticks. They were lost in the crumbling cave  _ SHIT, I just trapped myself. _ With nowhere to run and no time to think of something, Richard looked at the sky in defeat. He heard Ra’s come out into the morning air. They had ended up in the Wayne Manor’s vast, empty yard. The sun was just creeping over the horizon. Ra’s was merciful and delivered a hard strike to Richard’s nape. However, that only pushed Richard to the edge of consciousness. With fading vision, Richard made out Red Hood, Robin, and Bruce sprinting towards them. He felt the air moving as a helicopter lowered for Ra’s and him. Richard closed his eyes as he saw Red Hood aim his gun and Robin reach a hand. Bullets ricocheted off the helicopter.  _ Jay’s trying to hit the engine. How sweet. _

“RICHARD!” 

Dick isn’t sure who yelled his name, but he lost consciousness as he was loaded onto the helicopter.


	19. Interrogation

When Richard came to, he was being dragged into a Japanese looking temple. He felt the cold, crisp air and, through cracked eyes, could see snow on the ground. He could feel the cold substance soak through his pants and his legs dragged.  _ The League of Assassin’s headquarters. Not good. _ They got him inside and threw him none too gently into a cell. Doing nothing, he laid on the floor in the position he landed in. Richard was aware of the blood splatters across the walls and ceiling. There was a large brownish stain on the floor.  _ That person had a fun time. _ He began to steel and prepare himself for assassin torture. It was hours after he had woken that someone finally came into the cell. The bright light behind the person made it hard for Richard to see who it was, but he could tell it was a woman.

“I see you didn’t use the information wisely.” The person said.

“Talia Al Ghul.” He greeted.

_ She helped me then, maybe she’ll help me now. _

“You did tell Beloved, but that was probably the worst thing you could’ve done with the information.” She said.

“Well, I figured my best chance was with him. However, it seems I was wrong in that assumption.” Richard replied.

“The League of Assassins always gets the job done one way or another.” She responded.

“And what is the job?” Richard asked.

“Well, we’ve been made aware of a certain...loose end the Light has. We were called to...cut said loose end.” She said.

“So you’re going to kill me,” Richard said.

“Essentially, but we need what you know first.” She replied.

“And why’s that?” Richard asked.

“Well, we may be working with the Light, but we don’t everything they’re doing,” Talia explained.

Richard raised an eyebrow.

“Why’s that?” He asked.

Talia didn’t respond.

“What? Don’t trust me? Who am I going to tell? I’ll be dead soon enough.” He said.

“The Light doesn’t trust us,” Talia answered.

“You are assassins.” Richard pointed out.

_ Why haven’t I tried to escape? She’s the only thing between me and the door… _ His muscles tensed.

“If you’re thinking off charging me, I advise against it. Past me are safety precautions and they aren’t nice.” She grinned.

His muscles relaxed.

“Didn’t expect less. This is the League of Shadows headquarters after all.” He smirked.

She turned to leave.

“You will be retrieved for questioning soon.” She said.

“Wait, let me ask you something.” Richard requested.

She stopped.

“Who is William Cobb?” He asked.

She laughed.

“You already know the answer to that.” She said and left.

The door slammed shut behind her and many locks were set. _Well damn…_ _How did she know I know who William Cobb is? I mean it’s obvious that she knows who he is, but she also knows that I know him and his relation to me. She knows something I don’t though. She must._

* * *

 

Tim listened to Jason and Bruce bicker over how to find Richard and what the best approach was to get him back. Bruce wanted to sneak in and out. Jason wanted to go in guns blazing with the team and take down the League of Shadows. Tim was currently trying to figure out a way to appease them both. Alfred was off to the side silently worrying for the newest addition to the Bats. Barbara was doing to opposite of them all. She didn’t agree that they had to get Richard back because ‘he’s a newbie and newbie’s need to get out of things themselves’. Tim blamed that attitude on Richard’s open challenge to her.  _ He did screw up with her when he did that… _ Tim looked at Alfred as Jason and Bruce argued.  _ What if we get the team and us? We go in quietly and if things go south, we don’t hold back. _ Tim decided that idea would be best and pitched it to the group. Jason and Bruce didn’t agree at first, so some adjustments were made. 

“So the plan is to get us, Miss Martian, and Martian Manhunter to infiltrate the Assassins headquarters. We’ll spread out to find the good detective and get out just as quick. We only fight if need be.” Jason summed.

Tim nodded.

“That’ll work,” Bruce said.

They all looked at Barbara. She sighed.

“Fine.” She grumbled.

“Why do you hate him?” Jason asked.

“He’s too bold, confident, and just annoying.” She replied.

Jason and Bruce exchanged a look. 

“You’re just jealous cause we accepted him easily,” Jason commented.

This comment cause Barbara to sputter into denials. 

“Ha!” Jason looked at Bruce and Tim. “Called it.”

With a sigh, Tim went over to the bat-computer and called the Martians. Once they picked up, he explained the situation and what the plan was to get Dick back.

“We’ll meet at Mount Justice and leave from there.” Bruce, with his cowl on, instructed.

Waiting for the two Martians to nod, they left for the mountain. Once there, they boarded the bioship and the batwing and left for the Shadows headquarters.

* * *

 

Dick had been interrogated for hours. The Shadows didn’t really like his smart mouth and unwillingness to answer the questions, and they’re only response was to beat him or inflict some kind of pain. Richard was pretty sure at least two ribs were broken and was sure he had deep bruising on his torso. His shoulders were aching from his hand being chained above him for so long.  _ Bruce will come. I just have to wait until then. _ Two assassins entered the previously empty room. 

“Shall we start again?” One asked.

“I’m actually kind of tired, can we do this later?” Richard replied.

He received a punch.

“Guess that’s a no.” He said.

“What do you know about the Light?” The same assassin asked.

“Well, light is the opposite of the dark. Didn’t you learn that in like first grade?” Richard sassed.

A punch to the stomach.

“Answer the question.” The other, the one who punched him, growled.

“Technically, I did,” Richard smirked.

“What do you know about the Light?” The first assassin asked.

“Things,” Richard replied.

“What things?” He asked again.

“Information things,” Richard responded.

“Like what?!” The second assassin yelled.

“Like the Light is the name of the organization,” Richard smirked.

The second assassin beat him.

The cycle went on for hours.

* * *

 

When Batman, Red Hood, and the others finally found a good way to execute the plan, they waited for an opportunity. Said opportunity didn’t come until a few days later. The Shadows must’ve gotten busy or a huge mission came in because many of the assassins left, leaving the headquarters with less security. About four or five assassins patrolled the temple, Batman with the others quickly took them out. Once inside, the Martians camouflaged themselves and began searching. The bats stuck to the shadows and took down as many assassins as they could along the way.  _ Where’s Talia and Ra’s? _ Batman was making good progress when the thought struck him.  _ No doubt they expected us to come for Dick. _ He scanned the area ahead of him.  _ So then where are they? _ Footsteps sounded down the corridor, Batman disappeared into the shadows.

“You hear about the prisoner? Heard he was giving Maxin a run for his money. The guy won’t talk.” A patrolling assassin said as he walked with another assassin.

“Maxin? As in chief interrogator?” The female shadow asked.

“Yeah.” The male replied.

“No way. The guy may be tough, but Maxin breaks everyone eventually.” The female responded.

“Not this guy. He just responds with sarcasm or sass.” The male said.

“Just wait, Maxin will break him eventually. I want to know about the Light.” The female replied.

“If you’re so confident I’m wrong, why don’t you head over to the West Wall and watch. You’ll see what I’m talking about.” The male said.

_ Bingo. _ Batman jumped from the shadows and quickly knocked the two assassins out. Making his way over to the West Wall, he contacted the others.

“I have intel that Nightwing’s over near the West Wall.” He said.

**_“Heading over.”_ ** Red Hood immediately said.

The others said similar things. Batman checked all the cells he could see as he searched the West Wall. He heard someone coughing and the sound of flesh hitting flesh.  _ Torture for answers. _ He peeked in and saw Richard. The detective looked to be in bad shape. His hands were chained above him, his face bruised, shirt ripped, torso bruised and bloody, but his smirk was still on his face.  _ He doesn’t mind the pain. _ His face showed his resistance to the interrogation. 

“What do you know about the Light?” An assassin asked.

When Richard opened his mouth to respond, the second assassin brought out a gun and aimed it at his head.

“Answer correctly.” He growled.

Richard noticed Batman through the small barred window in the door. He cocked the gun. Making eye contact with Nightwing, Batman nodded. In one fluid motion, Richard brought his legs up and kicked the gun out of the hands of the assassin, but not before the assassin squeezed a shot off. The boom of the gun in the small room disorientated all in the room. Batman burst in and quickly took down the assassins. Red Hood and Robin entered the room shortly after. Together, the three got Richard down and, being lead by the Martians and Batgirl, got him out of the Shadows headquarters just as the alarms went off.


	20. Discovery

Richard was well aware of the sirens shrieking around him.  _ So much for a quiet getaway. _ He expected some assassins to come to confront them in their attempt to escape. However, they never came as the sirens stopped.  _ Weird. _ He had a sneaking suspicion it was someone on the inside, and he had a good idea of who it was. While he only met her twice, Talia al Ghul seemed like the type of girl to turn on her father for her ‘beloved’. Richard was thankful that Bruce had a way with ladies.  _ Wonder how Catwoman and Wonder Woman feel about this...assuming they know. _ He realized that they might not know. Anyway, he followed Batman into the Batwing with the other three. The two Martians would fly on their own and were already in the air. With a nod to Martian Manhunter, Batman took off towards Mount Justice. In the back of the Batwing, Red Hood checked Dick over. 

“They got some good hits in, huh?” He said as he eyed a fairly purple bruise.

“Well, I was tied up,” Richard replied.

“And provocative,” Robin said from the side.

“That too,” Richard smirked.

“Not the smartest thing to do.” Red Hood said.

Richard hissed as a little bit of alcohol cleaned a scrape on his jaw.

“You think that hurts?” Red Hood scoffed.

“No, I just wasn’t ready,” Richard said.

“Mmmhm.” Red Hood hummed.

“So what did they want from you?” Batgirl asked from the front.

“Information on the Light,” Richard responded.

“Not the League?” Batman questioned.

“Nope. Just the Light, I guess the love is lacking in that partnership.” Richard answered.

“Did they exactly what information?” Batman interrogated.

“No, they just kept asking ‘what do you know about the Light?’. General info.” Richard responded.

“Interesting,” Batman muttered.

“Why didn’t you tell them?” Batgirl asked.

“What do you mean?” Richard asked in return.

“Well, the Light is an enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Maybe the Assassins were wanting to take the Light down.” Batgirl reasoned.

Richard scoffed.

“Highly unlikely. Besides, the moment I tell them anything is the moment I’m dead.” Richard replied.

“Talia wouldn’t let you die. You’re one of Bruce’s kids now.” Robin commented.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that?!” Richard said.

“Talia did warn you.” Red Hood said. “She obviously considers you a Bruceling.” Red Hood said.

“A what?” Richard asked.

“Bruceling.” Red Hood repeated.

“Fear of dying isn’t why you didn’t say anything. Why didn’t you tell them anything?” Batgirl pressed.

“I don’t know about you, but I value my life.” Richard returned.

“That can’t be the only reason!” Batgirl said, frustrated.

“What other reason could there be?!” Richard asked.

“You’re loyal to the Light!” She shouted.

Silence fell upon the cabin.

“You always have mixed intentions. You may be an officer, but that could just to be inside law enforcement, where you can manipulate evidence. You somehow wormed yourself into the hero business to get information on us and report to the Light. After all, you did work for them first.” Batgirl growled.

“Back off Barbara. Just because Golden Boy fits in so well, doesn’t mean something's wrong with him.” Red Hood snapped.

“Okay, calm down.” Batman intruded. “Let’s look at the facts and consider this carefully.” 

“You’re not really thinking Dick could be loyal to the Light!” Robin exclaimed.

Batman stayed silent. Richard would be lying if he said that didn’t hurt a little.  _ The things words can do. _

“Richard did work for the Light, but he’s not anymore. The only thing that has caused some doubt in my mind is the Cadmus visits. You remember going in and coming out, but nothing else. Try to remember what happened during those visits.” Batman said.

“Wha-We already know I have Cadmus programming. Why are we going through this?” Richard asked.

“Red Arrow recalled them asking questions. About the League. You weren’t associated with the League then. You were with the Light, so what did they ask? What did they want you to do?” Batman spurred.

Richard struggled to remember.

“I-I can’t remember.” He said.

“Try harder!” Batman ordered.

Richard tried to search his mind. He only found the black gaps between arriving and leaving.

“There’s nothing there!” He responded.

“Try. Harder!” Batman commanded.

Richard tried harder to remember.  _ Nothing! _ Red Hood placed his hand on the back of his neck. It sparked a memory. Richard quickly grasped it and yanked it forwards to the front of his mind. It was Deathstroke and Dr. Desmond, the old Dr. Desmond. They were saying something, but it was fuzzy like he was submerged in water. It was then realized he was. An oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, he felt something on the nape of his neck. It was hard and cold.  _ Metal? _ He felt something in his mind, changing things, linking things that weren’t supposed to be linked. He couldn’t move, but in the glass of the tank, he could see three gnomes above him. They had a collar around their necks. It looked similar to the metahuman collars.  _ Why…? _ The two were talking again, but Deathstroke was close to the glass, inspecting his apprentice. 

“So he’ll get into the League? Close?” He asked.

Desmond nodded.

“How will we monitor him?” Deathstroke questioned. “As you know, I don’t really get a say in what happens to the boy and the plans for him are ever changing.” 

Dr. Desmond explained, but Richard couldn’t catch anything but a few words.

“Gnome...other....inside...work…” The doctor said.

Deathstroke laughed.

“Of course.” He said. “Time to let him out.”

The oxygen mask was taken off and water rushed his lungs. He let out a few bubbles as he struggled for air before vaguely feeling himself being pulled from the water. He passed out.

“Dick!” Red Hood yelled.

Snapping back to reality, Richard’s eyes were wide and he was gasping, still feeling the water in his lungs.

“Dude, you okay?” Red Hood asked.

“Yeah, you zoned out and started hyperventilating for a second,” Robin commented.

Richard didn’t answer, still trying to get his breathing under control. He could feel Batgirl’s and Batman’s intense gaze as they flew through the air. Finally, getting his breathing normal, he met Batman’s eyes.

“I remember something.” He confirmed.

He told them what he felt, saw, heard, and deduced about everything.

“I have no idea about the gnomes.” He admitted.

“Well, the gnomes you described are telepathic beings. Maybe they implanted the programming. As for the cold metal on your neck, I’m clueless.” Robin replied.

Red Hood pushed Richard forwards and pulled at the clothing around the nape of his neck. He poked and prodded.

“I don’t see any sign of anything being here.” Red Hood sighed.

“Scars can be covered,” Batman commented.

“It might not have scared.” Richard threw in.

“Maybe the metal connected to your spinal cord and nervous system. It’s not easy to access and it’d have to have been carefully inserted, but it’s possible.” Red Hood said.

That earned surprised looked from everyone, except Batman. 

“What? Timmy’s not the only one who knows things.” Red Hood replied annoyed.

“When we get to the mountain, we’ll do a deep tissue scan. That’ll tell us something.” Batman responded.

* * *

 

Richard didn’t realize a deep tissue scan involved getting down to wearing only boxers and a mask and being stared at intensely by Batman. The said hero was currently walking in a circle around him, slowly. His eyes scanning up and down Richard’s body. On the screen off to the right, Richard could see his bones, muscles, and skin separated. The bone and muscle looked quite worrisome. The team and most of the League were in the room. Richard didn’t fail to notice some of the girls drooling at his body. He did notice the sympathetic looks on some faces as they saw all his scars. Most of which he’s not sure how he got. Once Batman was done, he told Richard to get dressed. Following Batman, he looked at the scans.

“What the fuck is that?!” He exclaimed.

On the muscle and skin scan, everything was normal. However, a long, blue line followed his spine up to his brain stem on the bone scan. There was a very small box connected to the line resting on his brain stem.


	21. Speculation

Richard stared in shock at the peculiar scan.

“Seriously, what the fuck is that?!” He yelled frantically.

He was answered with silence, but Batman had stepped towards the computer and began doing what Batman does: figure out what was going on.

“What did Cadmus do to me?” Richard whispered.

He placed a hand on his neck.  _ I can’t feel anything there. I never would have known it was there if not for the deep tissue scan. _ His other hand groped his lower back, feeling along the spine.  _ There’s no indication of anything there. _ He refused to think about the possibility of this all being a lie. He couldn’t bear the thought of being a simple pawn in a chess game between good and evil, even though he knew it was a likely possibility. Batman stopped clicked at the keyboard.

“Scan shows that it’s a metal similar to medical replacements,” Batman said.

“What is it for?” Red Hood asked.

“Monitoring, I think. The small box at the base of the brain stem,” He pointed to it, “has electrical readings sending information out, but not receiving. He’s only eyes and ears, but not a spy or clone.” Batman answered.

“Is there any way to remove it?” Richard asked.

Batman looked at Martian Manhunter.

“You’re the appointed doctor.” He said.

Martian Manhunter stepped forward and closely examined the scans.

“It would be possible, but the surgery would be extremely risky. Any damage to any of the areas near the device would cause physical disabilities.” The martian replied.

Richard had an increasing feeling of dread as the situation worsened.

“Is there anything we could do?” He asked softly.

Martian Manhunter and Batman exchanged a look.

“We could, perhaps, disable the device.” Martian Manhunter tried to lift the depressing air.

“We’ll need more time to run tests and get other scans. We’ll find something.” Batman reassured.

It didn’t make Richard feel any better.

“I’m going back to Gotham.” He said quietly. 

“What? Wait, just stay here and we can figure something out.” Robin objected.

Richard looked at him.

“Is it really a good idea for me to be here?” Richard asked.

“What do you mean?” Red Hood asked.

“If whatever is inside me is sending information out, whoever is getting that information knows as much as I do. To prevent any more information leaking, I think I shouldn’t be here, and I shouldn’t be informed of anything.” He explained.

“We don’t know if anyone is monitoring you.” Robin objected.

“Don’t you think it’s weird how there haven’t been that many encounters with any villains lately?” Richard asked.

It clicked to the heroes then that there hadn’t been much villain encounters.

“And when did that start?” Richard asked quietly, already knowing the answer.

Everyone knew the answer, but none of them said anything out loud.  _ Ever since I came into this business. _ He chuckled a bit.  _ They’re trying to spare me pain.  _ Silence fell across the room like a thick blanket. He started walking towards the zeta tube.  _ I knew I wasn’t meant to be here. I knew something was wrong. I knew this wouldn’t last.  _ He stepped in and was engulfed by golden light. A tear slipped down his face.  _ So why am I so sad? _ He stepped out into the night air of Gotham City. He heard police sirens off in the distance.  _ I really wanted to help. _ Sighing and schooling his emotions, he headed for his hotel room. He didn’t know where his bike was, and it started to rain. He stopped and lifted his face towards the crying sky.  _ Why? _ The sadness washed over him again.  _ Stop. _ Steeling himself, he continued his walk. He approached the hotel numbly and went to his room. Getting inside, he changed into pajama pants, dried himself off, and flopped onto his bed. He laid there for a few minutes before something happened. The earpiece he had gotten from Batman was calling to him. He looked at it before rolling over and ignoring it. With the earpiece stopping, he listened to the silence and fell asleep.

* * *

 

Red Hood watched the detective walk out of Mount Justice. He had the urge to go after the man and talk to him, but he knew Golden Boy wanted to be alone.

“We’re just going to let him walk out?” Batgirl asked with a panicked tone.

“What?” Red Hood turned.

“Shouldn’t we, I don’t know, keep him here? Put him in a room?” She suggested.

Jason couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He asked.

He saw Robin exchange a look with Batman, but neither said anything. 

“No, he’s a security threat!” She exclaimed.

“With a little torture or mind-reading, we’re all security threats! Besides, we don’t imprison innocents.” Red Hood countered.

“Well, we’d have to get caught first. He just has to walk around and be awake! He’s far from innocent. He was with the Light before he was with us.” She argued.

“He took initiative and left! He knows he’s a liability, unlike you! Also unlike you, he’s a good person with a good heart.” Red Hood shouted.

Batgirl looked at him with wide eyes. The room fell silent. 

“I-I’m not a liability! I’m just as good as he is! I’m better! He’s a criminal. He’s nothing.” She said.

He got in her face.

“No. You’re not. I’m a criminal. Does that make me nothing?” He ground out.

Batgirl didn’t respond but looked away from Red Hood. He scoffed.

“Unbelievable.” He snarled.

With a glare at Batgirl, he left and exited the mountain.

* * *

 

Robin watched as Red Hood stormed off. He agreed with Red Hood about Richard, but not about Batgirl. She could be useful, even if she was a bit self-centered and full of herself. But then again, were any of the bats as self-centered and full of themselves as she was?  _ No. _ He sighed and looked at Superboy. They had become close, so he walked over to him. Behind Robin, Batman and Martian Manhunter were talking about the device. Batgirl hadn’t moved, but her hands had tightened into fists. She huffed and stormed off. 

“Probably going to destroy the gym,” Superboy commented

“Yeah.” Robin agreed

“I thought everything was fine between the bats,” Superboy said.

“So did I,” Robin replied.

“What about Nightwing, will he be alright?” Miss Martian entered the conversation, Lagoon Boy behind her.

“He can certainly take care of himself, but I don’t know what he’s feeling or thinking,” Robin answered.

“I’m sure he will be fine, my friend.” Aqualad, ever the big brother, assured.

“What about the device? Did you see it?” Robin asked Superboy.

“I never used x-ray on him,” Superboy respond.

“Did you sense anything?” Robin asked Miss Martian.

“Just the Cadmus programming, like Superboy.” The Martian replied.

“He had Cadmus influences?” Blue Beetle asked as he entered the conversation.

“Yeah,” Robin confirmed.

“Wouldn’t that mean there’s something in the Cadmus database about Nightwing?” Aqualad asked.

Robin almost facepalmed.

“Why didn’t I realize that?” He muttered.

“You weren’t thinking clearly,” Superboy replied.

Sighing, Robin went up to Batman.

“I have an idea.” He smirked.

Batman and Martian Manhunter exchanged a look.

“And what might that be?” Batman asked.

Robin explained the Cadmus idea and began planning. Many blueprint examinations, mutters, pointing, and arguing later, they finally had a plan to get into Cadmus and Light databases. They gathered the heroes, called Red Hood and Nightwing, who didn’t pick up, and debriefed them on the new plan. Red Hood was placed in charge to get Nightwing.  _ That’ll be tough. _ Robin looked at Red Hood and knew Jason was thinking the same. He walked over to his brother.

“Good luck,” Robin said.

“Yeah, I’ll need it.” Red Hood responded.


	22. Weirdness

Red Hood made his way to Richard’s hotel. He had no doubt that the detective was brooding in his room, maybe sleeping. Either way, the detective must’ve felt depressed. It was going to be hard to convince him to join the League and Team on a mission. Especially now that his stupid “I’m not good enough to be a hero” thought has some support.  _ I really hope he doesn’t say that. If he does, I’ll smack him. _ Red Hood approached the hotel and opened the window to Richard’s room. The room was dark and there was a lump on the bed. Red Hood took off his helmet and set it on the table. He walked over and turned the lamp on. Richard gave no reaction to the light, but he had a good reason. Jason almost flipped his shit as he saw Richard’s eyes, wide open and glowing blue. He waved a hand in Richard’s face.

“Golden Boy? That’s awfully creepy.” He said and placed a hand on Richard’s shoulder.

No reaction. 

“Hey, Deteeectiiive.” Jason sang and shook the shoulder.

No reaction.

“Alright…” Jason muttered.

He moved around the went to the foot of the bed and yanked the covers off. Dick didn’t even flinch or move.  _ What the hell? _ Jason decided it was time for drastic measures. He went over, put on his helmet, and picked the detective up bridal style. He grunted as he shifted Richard into a fireman’s carry and went out the door. He was aware of the looks he was getting as he walked down the streets of Gotham. After all, Gotham was weird, but you didn’t see Red Hood walking down the street with a man in only his boxers thrown over his shoulder every night. Red Hood ducked into an alley and placed Richard into a zeta tube and sent him off to the Mountain. After the glowing stopped, Red Hood stepped in and followed Richard. When he materialized in the Mountain, Richard was sprawled on the floor, eyes still glowing. Batman, some members of the team, and some of the League were bent over Richard. Martian Manhunter and Batman were checking vitals. 

“What happened?” Batman growled.

“I don’t know. I was going to get him for this plan of ours. When I got there, he was like this: eyes glowing and shit. The guy wouldn’t even flinch or anything.” Red Hood answered.

“Well, it’s clearly not good.” Batman snarled. “Why didn’t you bring him immediately?”

“I don’t know.” Red Hood shouted.

Batman sighed silently.

“Let’s get him to the med bay.” Martian Manhunter said.

Batman nodded and picked Richard up. Without a word to anyone else, he left the room. Red Hood and Robin followed. They walked in right as Richard was set down onto the bed and hooked up to a heart monitor. 

“What if it’s not physical?” Robin hypothesized.

“What do you mean?” Red Hood asked.

“If the device sends out signals, maybe it receives them, right?” Robin reasoned.

“We already figured that,” Batman replied.

“Right, but what if this,” He motioned to Richard, “is the end of the day report. The part of the day where the information is collected and more orders are sent.” 

“Is there any way to check that?” Red Hood asked.

“Only to find the central database or whoever is his handler,” Robin said with a disappointed tone.

“When can we go to Cadmus?” Red Hood asked.

“We haven’t debriefed all the plan members.” Martian Manhunter said.

“Do it now, J’onn,” Batman ordered.

Martian Manhunter hesitated before his eyes glowed, and he went still. Batman gave a small sign of approval and went back to Richard. He leaned in close as he examined Dick’s abnormal eyes. Richard’s eyes were a bright blue. It was obvious that it wasn’t normal, but Batman couldn’t decide if he wanted to believe the phenomenon was caused by the device in his back. He did though, and he desperately wanted to relief Richard of this peculiar burden. Martian Manhunter returned to them.

“It’s done. We can start moving out now.” He said.

“Batman nodded to Red Hood and Robin. Together, the three left the Mountain. Batman climbed into the cockpit of the batwing. 

**_“Shouldn’t me and the fast travelers go to the Cadmus base across the world?”_ ** Superman’s voice came through the comlink.

“No, the Batwing is perfectly capable of traveling that far, and, as alien as you are, flying that far will tire you out,” Batman argued.

**_“Alright.”_ ** Superman sighed.

“Prepare for the flight, we’re going to Australia,” Batman said to his two passengers. 

The League had located various major Cadmus bases around the world. Since the device’s signal was bouncing off various towers around the world, the specific location couldn’t be identified. With this information, the League decided to split up and search or storm the major Cadmus bases. The labs were easy to locate and identify. Which lab had illegal activity, now that was the million dollar question. Which lab had the activity for Richard, now that was the billion dollar question and the whole reason for this mission. The Batwing took off. They flew around thirty minutes before someone broke the comfortable silence.

“Who’s staying with Nightwing?” Robin asked.

“Alfred as Agent A,” Batman responded.

Red Hood laughed.

“He’s in good and capable hands.” He said.

“So, we’re just sneaking in and getting the information and leaving, right? Nothing like the first Cadmus ‘investigation’ with Desmon, right?” Robin asked.

“We can’t control that. Expect anything.” Batman advised.

“I know that. Be prepared for anything and everything.” Robin sighed.

“So what does Waller want?” Red Hood asked.

Batman looked at Red Hood from the pilot seat. Robin looked between the bats.

“Waller?” Robin asked. “Amanda Waller? As in government secret top dog?” 

The two older bats looked at the youngest.

“I did my own digging,” Robin said with a shrug.

“So did I.” Red Hood said.

Batman sighed.  _ They are bats. _

“I have a suspension that Amanda Waller supports Cadmus. She might be running that whole show. Either way, it’s not good. Cadmus had some serious research that could be a serious threat to the human race. On top of that, Amanda Waller has influence on the government, mainly the army. She also knows our identities and has a Task Force X, aka Suicide Squad. Needless to say, she’s dangerous.” Batman said.

“She knows identities?” Red Hood exclaimed.

“Yes,” Batman replied calmly.

They could see Australia in the distance.

“Batman to all units. We’re coming up on Australia. Is everyone in position?” He said.

**_“That’s a fast plane. Flash unit in position.”_ **

There were various other ‘In Positions’ in response to Batman. Everyone was either in position or almost there like themselves. Batman decided to contact Agent A.

“A?” Batman said.

**_“I’m here Master Batman.”_ ** The butler answered.

“How’s our patient?” Batman asked.

**_“He’s fine. Still...asleep.”_ ** Alfred updated.

“Are his eyes still…?” Batman asked.

**_“Yes. I’ll give you an update if anything of note happens.”_ ** Alfred replied.

“Thanks, A!” Red Hood entered.

They ended the link. Batman guided the Batwing towards the major Cadmus base. He contacted the others to tell them they were getting into position. Once the bats were on top of the Cadmus building and the Batwing was safely tucked away, the plan commenced. The three bats made their way into the Cadmus building through the vents. The two older bats trusted the younger to guide them through Cadmus. They made their way through Cadmus. Batman in front, Robin in the middle, and Red Hood taking up the back. Batgirl was with Wonder Woman and Supergirl. Robin led them to the database room. When they opened the door, what greeted them inside was shocking.


	23. It's a Trap!

The bats were expecting databases, computers, people working the computers. That, however, was not what waited for them in the room. Inside the room stood a g-nome, not the small ones that controlled Superboy, but the medium-sized ones. It was still concentrating on whatever it was doing. Its eyes were glowing the same blue as Richards. Red Hood broke the silence.

“Shit. Now what?” He cursed.

“We take the g-nome,” Robin replied.

“Take it?!” Red Hood exclaimed.

He raised his gun.

“Killing it will be easier, solve all our problems.” He said.

Batman shoved his arm down but a shot was squeezed off. It tore through the gnomes leg. The creature let out a pained shriek, eyes dimming but then strengthening again. It laid still.

“Great, now we have to carry it! Why did you stop me?!” Red Hood growled.

“We don’t know how that could affect Nightwing. Cutting off a mental connection abruptly could cause damage to the minds connected.” Batman explained.

Red Hood huffed, knowing Batman was right.

“Uh, guys, we don’t have to carry it. Look.” Robin pointed at the gnomes leg.

The bullet hole, clean through, was closing, not quickly but not slowly either. 

“That’s all kind of weird.” Red Hood said.

Hearing guards, the bats left the room with the g-nome, leading it by the arm. Backtracking, they ran into a few guards. Batman quickly took them down. Robin was leading them and Red Hood had the g-nome. The neared the exit when the gnomes finally reacted to their presence. It stopped and caused Red Hood to jerk forwards. The vigilante pulled at the gnomes arm. The creature wouldn’t budge.

“Great.” He growled.

Deciding not to play nice, Red Hood slung the g-nome over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Following the other two bats, Red Hood sprinted outside. The gnome hadn’t struggled when Red Hood had picked it up like a sack of potatoes. Why the creature decided to let out an ear-piercing screech into his ear, Red Hood wasn’t sure, but it did. The screech caused Red Hood to gracelessly drop the gnome onto the ground, where it continued to scream. Batman, Robin, and Red Hood put their hands to their ears in an effort to block out the sound. In their panic and confusion, they allowed themselves to be surrounded by varying gnomes and a bunch of guards.

* * *

 

Superman wasn’t sure why he felt his lab was too easy. Sure, he hadn’t found any suspicious components, but he was in Canada. Canadians always seemed calm and good; it wasn’t surprising really.  _ I sure am stereotyping. _ He and Superboy had split up. Superman did a last sweep for anything suspicious before going to find Superboy. The Cadmus building was much larger than expected. Most of the guards had no problem letting Superman have a look around. Something he wasn’t used to. He was pretty sure no illegal activities were going on in this facility, but he wasn’t Batman. So he contacted Superboy.

“Superboy, come in.” He said.

**_“Here.”_ ** Came the reply.

“Let’s meet up at the main guards' office,” Superman said.

**_“Okay.”_ ** Superboy simply said.

_ He’s so...robotic. _ Superman knew the boy hadn’t quite grasped conversation but one-word answers got annoying. Dropping the train of thought, he flew to the main guards' office. Superboy leaned on the wall with crossed arms. He noticed Superman approaching. 

“I’ve got nothing.” He said.

“Me neither,” Superman replied.

“Odd isn’t it?” Superboy asked quietly.

Superman nodded.

“Very.” 

“One more sweep?” Superboy asked.

“Let’s not split up.” Superman agreed.

The two supers began their third sweep of the building. Circling back to the guards' office, they noticed the lack of people. They exchanged a look and put themselves on alert. Walking down a corridor, they didn’t see the lead casing hiding a medium sized kryptonite stone in the ceiling. The casing opened and the green light of kryptonite enlightened the two Kryptonians. They collapsed and struggled. Superman was aware of the quiet footsteps approaching. The figure bent down and an owl-like mask met his gaze.

“Hello, Superman. You’re going to be very helpful to us. For once.” The Talon said with a smirking tone.

“N... No.” Superboy began to get up.

The Talon tsked and stomped on Superboy's back.

“You’re not going anywhere.” The Talon growled and removed his foot.

Superboy stilled tried. Superman’s vision was going black at the edges. The Talon sighed and stomped on Superboy again. 

“What’s with you heroes and always insisting on making things more difficult than they have to be? Just stay down. I don’t want to deal with resistance. I’m simply here to take you when you pass out.” Talon growled again.

The Talon began stomping on Superboy’s face as he began his last sentence. Superboy stilled, unconscious. 

“That’s more like it.” The Talon said.

He looked at Superman and walked over. Superman’s comlink buzzed to life.

**_“Batman to Superman. To anyone.”_ ** Batman said.

Behind Batman’s voice, the sound of battle rang through.

**_“Red Hood to anyone! Robin’s hurt and we’re surrounded, up to our necks in gnomes and guards!”_ ** Red Hood said desperately.

“Aw, can’t help your fellow heroes.” He laughed, “Your turn.”

Superman made a last look at Superboy before the Talon knocked him out.

* * *

 

_ Great surrounded and my ear drum’s busted. _ Red Hood armed himself with his guns and aimed them into the surrounding crowd.  _ I don’t care if I kill someone. _ Batman drew batarangs as did Robin. Red Hood fired a shot and hell broke loose. The bullet hit a gnome and killed it. A flood of gnomes attacked the three as did the guards, with guns. Dodging bullets and claws wasn’t easy, especially a large number of both. Bullets were flying everywhere, some of them were his own. The gnomes were lunging at them. Red Hood had to switch between shooting and hand-to-hand combat like Bruce Wayne did girlfriends. Red Hood was waiting until one of them got hurt. He didn’t have to wait long as Robin let out a yelp as a claw sunk into his thigh. Red Hood sprinted over with Batman’s cover. He jumped and kicked the gnome away from the youngest. Red Hood heard Batman on the comlink calling for anyone. Knowing Bruce was prideful, Red Hood took over.

“Red Hood to anyone!” He knew he sounded desperate, “Robin’s hurt and we’re surrounded, up to our necks in gnomes and guards!”

To his surprise, Superman didn’t answer. Green Lantern, Dr. Fate, and the Martians did. They replied they were on their way. Dr. Fate appeared out of a golden, glowing ankh and joined the battle. Green Lantern arrived with him and formed a protective bubble around Robin. With a shout to Batman, he took the youngest to the Batwing. Red Hood and Batman fell into their partnered fighting and took down half of the crowd. Dr. Fate and Green Lantern assisted with the other half. Soon, the bats were on their way back to the Mountain with the gnome. Upon arrival, most of the League and Team were waiting in the hangar for them. Each team hadn’t found anything illegal or they found it but stopped it. It seemed only the bats were lucky. No one failed to notice the two missing members.

“Has anyone heard from Superman and Superboy?” Batman asked as he led the gnome to where Richard was.

Behind him, Robin and Red Hood were bickering. The younger refusing to be carried while the older didn’t give him a choice and picked him up bridal style.

“I’m not Connor, but you’re just going to have to deal.” Red Hood growled.

“What does that mean?!” Robin exclaimed and increased his efforts.

“No. We hoped they were already here or were helping you.” Wonder Woman answered Batman.

“Haven’t heard from them either,” Batman said, ignoring his bickering sons as they passed.

The gnome's eyes stopped glowing and it processed. It attempted to run away and escape but Miss Martian telekinetically levitated it to a holding cell. Batman nodded to her and went to tend to his sons. Richard met him in the doorway. The detective looked depressed.

“Why am I here?” He asked quietly.

“I’ll explain later,” Batman said as he went over the examining table were Robin and Red Hood were.

Martian Manhunter came in and, with Batman's okay, tended Robins wound. The few deep punctures needed stitches. Red Hood walked over the Nightwing. He put a hand on the detective’s shoulder.

“We’re going to figure this all out. Just you watch.” Red Hood said, determined.

It was then that Aqualad rushed in.

“You need to see this. Now.” 


	24. Hostage Situation

Everything was happening all at once. Nightwing was feeling extremely overwhelmed with the situation looming over him.  _ What am I going to do? _ His stare flitted over to Red Hood and Batman. They were already making plans to avoid this, but Nightwing wasn’t sure there was a way around this.  _ I have to do it. For them. _ He squeezed his eyes shut and recalled the past few minutes.

* * *

 

Richard rushed after Aqualad, Batman, and Red Hood. The four of them barged into the main communications room to see Deathstroke’s masked face on the large screen. Richard’s stomach dropped and his heart jumped to his throat and his blood started rushing.  _ This isn’t good. _ Deathstroke was saying something.

**_“Hello, Justice League. You have something we want, and we have something you want.”_ ** He said with a heard grin.

The camera switched over to the two unconscious, chained, bathed in kryptonite light Kryptonians. Superman and Superboy had matching bruises and Richard swore he saw something or someone hiding in the shadows.  _ I’ll have to check that out. _ The camera switched back the Deathstroke.

**_“We, the Light, want our birdie back. He is not yours even if was meant to be. By know, you already know what his function is. So, let’s cut to the chase. Give us, what do you call him? Ah, Nightwing, and we’ll deliver Superman and Superboy back to you, unharmed. We’ll meet in three hours at the Lexcorp building in Star City. Failure to deliver the boy will result in some very painful treatment to the Kryptonians. I wonder how Kryptonians react to dark matter testing.”_ ** Deathstroke demanded.

The video cut off and tense silence engulfed the room. Leading back to where Richard was before. Everything was happening all at once. Nightwing was feeling extremely overwhelmed with the situation looming over him.  _ What am I going to do? _ His stare flitted over to Red Hood and Batman. They were already making plans to avoid this, but Nightwing wasn’t sure there was a way around this.  _ I have to do it. For them. I’m not worth it. _ Richard went up to the two bats.

“Stop.” He said quietly.

The two kept planning and arguing.

“There has to be a way!” Red Hood shouted.

“Stop,” Nightwing said more forcefully, but not enough.

“What if we set up a perimeter?” Batman asked.

“Stop.” Some of the members near Nightwing heard him and looked at him with wide eyes.

“We could always show up but not with Nightwing.” Red Hood suggested.

“Stop!” Nightwing yelled.

Red Hood and Batman looked at him. All of the heroes in the room look at him, wide-eyed in disbelief.  _ I’m not worth this! _

“What?” Red Hood asked.

“Stop.” He pleaded.

“What do you mean ‘stop’?! Are you thinking about going to them?!” Red Hood exclaimed.

“Of course I do! Two superpowered heroes for one cop gone novice vigilante?! That’s a no brainer!” Richard reasoned.

“No, no way! You’re family, and like it or not, we’re making sure you and the Light don’t mix.” Red Hood growled.

“I’m not worth it!” Richard shouted.

“Why do you think that?!” Red Hood snarled. “Every time! It’s always that you’re not worth it or good enough! You’re beyond worth it! Beyond good enough!” Red Hood exclaimed.

“That’s not the point! I’m going!” Nightwing growled.

“No!” Red Hood yelled.

“Yes!” Nightwing exclaimed.

Red Hood’s fist tightened at his side.

“No fucking way.” He growled, low and dangerous.

“Yes, I am.” Nightwing got in his face.

“No, you’re not.” Red Hood grounded out.

“Yes, he is.” Batgirl interrupted.

Nightwing looked at Batgirl, shocked. He was slightly hurt, but he was glad someone saw it his way. Red Hood spewed profanities at Batgirl. She glared at him.  _ Shit, she’s not done. _

“He’s going, just not alone.” She cleared.

“What do you mean?” Black Canary asked from the crowd.

Batgirl smirked at the heroine.

“Who do we know can shrink into something small and is capable of handling themselves in battle?” She smirked.

All heads turned to Beat Boy.

“Oh great.” He sighed. 

“So here’s the plan: Beat Boy will hide in Nightwing's clothes. When Nightwing gets close to whoever is coming from the Light, presumably Deathstroke, Beast Boy can turn into something large and wreak havoc. During that time, we can move in and capture the Light members and Superman and Superboy.” Batgirl said, proud of herself.

She made eye contact with Red Hood.

“Not useless after all, huh?” She sassed.

“Sounds like a plan.” Wonder Woman nodded with a smile.

The situation was looking hopeful.

* * *

 

Nightwing, Red Hood, Beast Boy, Batman, and Batgirl landed at the meeting site with the League following. The Lexcorp building towered over them. Superman and Superboy were in pods at the other end of the clearing. Guarding the pods were Bialyan soldiers, their queen stood in front of the group with Deathstroke, Ra’s Al Ghul, and a Talon.  _ Shit, a talon and the Head of the Dragon. _ Nightwing looked around for Talia. He felt a little disappointed as he didn’t see her. 

“Beast Boy get into position,” Nightwing muttered.

The green boy shrunk into a little, green ladybug and hid in the escrima sticks attached to Nightwing’s back holsters. Nightwing waited for a second for the boy to get settles before getting out of the Batwing. He landed softly onto the fresh, green grass. 

“You ready?” Batman asked.

Nightwing looked at the villains in front of him. He noticed things he hadn’t before. The way Queen Bee’s hair looked silky soft, Ra’s Al Ghul’s fit physique, Deathstroke’s calculating blue eye. He looked away from them. Batman had a hidden worry in his eye. Red Hood’s muscles were tensed. Batgirl looked carefree, but he could see her tight features. He thought of Robin, how smart he was. He thought of Gordon, old, should-be-retired Gordon. He was a good  He forced himself to now and looked around. The air was fresh and clean. The grass beneath his feet was soft and alive. A soft breeze blew through the trees. Their green leaves and brown branches swayed with it. The sky was crossing into a deeper blue as midnight approached. The stars shone brightly as they forever freckled the sky. The moon was full and white against the dark night sky. Nightwing could see the craters and realized everything was beautiful.  _ I need to stop. _ Nightwing forced himself to pay attention to now.

“I’m ready,” Nightwing confirmed.

He gave a small smile to Batman and Red Hood. 

“Everything will be fine.” He said.

They didn’t look convinced. Nightwing took a deep breath and stepped toward the villains across the clearing. He made sure to make eye contact.


	25. Confrontations and Stupidity

Nightwing could hear his blood rushing through his ears as his heart pounded.  _ I have to. _ His physical being did not show how panicked and tense he was on the inside. He kept the muscles in his shoulders and back relaxed as he walked. He held his head high and proud and unafraid. His hands remained unclenched. Fists would only raise suspicion and create caution on the villains part.  _ But what if they’re suspicious of my relaxed state? _ He calmed the thought by staying on alert, watching his surroundings and the Light members and supporters in front of him with deducting eyes. 

“Stop. Stay right there.” Deathstroke commanded.

Nightwing did as told and stopped. He had no idea what Beast Boy was doing as he couldn’t feel him, but the little ladybug was supposed to be on his right escrima stick on the side closest to his muscular back.  _ I hope he isn’t moving right now. _ Deathstroke nodded at one of the Bialian soldiers.

“You. Check him for anything suspicious. The League might have placed a tracker or something on him.” He ordered.

The soldier quickly stepped up and circled Nightwing, then, not seeing anything, patted him down. The soldier didn’t find anything but the normal bat equipment and handed those to Deathstroke. The Talon was eyeing him, scanning him up and down. The Talon’s staring made Nightwing a bit uncomfortable.  _ What now? _ Apparently, nothing, as the Court’s dog didn’t say anything or do anything.

“Should we let him keep those...sticks? I was told not to use my power, so I cannot subdue him.” Queen Bee asked.

Ra’s Al Ghul eyed Nightwing and then looked at Deathstroke then looked at the Talon before returning his gaze to Queen Bee.

“With me, Talon, and Deathstroke here, the boy won’t be able to anything but touch his escrima sticks before Deathstroke and I subdue him. The Talon won’t have to do anything.” Ra’s Al Ghul stated cockily.

_ It’s true. _ The Queen seemed satisfied with that answer.  _ Now’s the time to do it. _

“I’m going to do something, but it’s not to fight or anything like that, so don’t be alarmed and don’t attack me,” Nightwing warned.

Deathstroke looked at him with his one visible eye narrowed. Ra’s Al Ghul had his hand on his sheathed sword, and the queen was backing up a bit. The Talon remained indifferent. Before Nightwing took notice of their states, he grabbed both his escrima sticks. He spun around and threw them across the clearing. Both of them landed near the heroes on the other side. Beast Boy turned into his usual form and was staring at Nightwing with surprise and betrayal and confusion. Red Hood and Batman were yelling at him. Actually, most of the League was yelling and screaming at him to come back or stop or don’t do it. There were a few whys, but he already answered that question. Nightwing turned back to the villains, head high and back straight. He wasn’t afraid, and he wasn’t going to run. He met Deathstroke’s eye with a fierce determination. 

“I’ll come with you. No fighting. No resistance. No foul play. No trackers. No communicators. Nothing. Just release Superman and Superboy into League custody. That’s all I ask. No one has to get hurt.” Nightwing demanded.

Deathstroke and Ra’s Al Ghul laughed a bit. Queen Bee smiled. The Talon had his head cocked to the side in curiosity. Nightwing could hear the League start to come towards them. Before he could warn them, Deathstroke squeezed a shot off in their path to Nightwing.

“Come any closer and we up the kryptonite exposure!” He threatened.

The League stopped with great reluctance. 

“I knew one of you would see reason.” Queen Bee smirked.

“I’m glad you decided to go quietly, boy,” Deathstroke said.

“Are you going to give up Superman and Superboy or not?” Nightwing growled.

The Talon laughed. The sound caused all those around him to look bewildered.

“Of course not. Are you stupid?” The Talon laughed. 

Nightwing’s eyes grew wide. Then he mentally slapped himself in the face.  _ Of course they’re not! Why the fuck did I think they would?! _ He was really disappointed with himself.

“Yes, we are.” Ra’s Al Ghul snarled in response.

Nightwing took a moment to realize that both he and his daughter did have a sense of justice even if it was a bit twisted, and they always seemed to lean to the radical side of things.  _ They’re also almost always on the wrong side of the fight. _ Either way, he was thankful for two understanding villains.

“Oh? I thought we already had this discussion.” The Talon sneered.

_ Trouble in the alliance. Maybe I can use that. _

“The Kryptonians are not ours to keep. They belong to Darkseid. I’m sure the Court knows this.” Ra’s Al Ghul reminded. 

The Talon growled, low and dangerous.

“Fine.” He snarled.

Ra’s turned to face Nightwing. Throughout the whole ordeal, Queen Bee and Deathstroke remained unaffected, as if it had happened before. _ Maybe it did. _

“You can have your barbarians.” Ra’s confirmed. 

Queen Bee nodded to her soldiers, and they began to push the two pods with the Kryptonians inside across the clearing and to the League. Nightwing could still hear the Leaguers and others yelling at him. He watched the pods get pushed halfway down the clearing. He made eye contact with Red Hood who, despite the mask, looked devastated. Nightwing gave him a small, slightly sad smile. Batman met his eyes from across the clearing. Nightwing gave him the same smile, but he could tell Batman was indifferent to it. Nightwing could tell Batman had considered the possibility of Nightwing doing this. He turned back to Deathstroke. Nightwing could hear the engine of an approaching aircraft. The aircraft looked like a jet. It was sleek black, thin at the front for slicing through the air.  _ A fast-flying ship. _ It almost made him miss his bike. The jet began to land and open its doors.

“Alright, give me the communicator in your ear and board the jet,” Deathstroke commanded. 

Nightwing fell into step behind Deathstroke and Queen Bee. Ra’s Al Ghul and the Talon followed him.  _ Surrounded. _ They approached the opened doors.  _ Now or never, Dick. Let’s do this! _ Nightwing grabbed Queen Bee by the wrist and flung her around. Nightwing let go and threw her into the Talon and Ra’s Al Ghul. Nightwing turned to Deathstroke and yanked the mercenary’s sword from the sheath and his gun from the holster. Deathstroke caught his wrist as Nightwing pulled away. With desperation, Nightwing elbowed his mask, which cracked, and then shoved the mercenary away. He jumped away from them as they all stood to confront him.

“You didn’t really think I’d go that easily, did you?” Nightwing grinned as he held the sword and gun.

Nightwing could hear the remaining Leaguers approaching the fight. He aimed the gun and the villains and the sword towards the heroes. They stopped.

“Don’t interfere! This is my fight!” He yelled at the League.

“Don’t be stupid! We have to help you.” Red Hood argued.

“No. This is my mess. My fight. Now get back or I will make you.” Nightwing responded threateningly.

There was no way he was going to allow them to interfere with this fight. Red Hood, Batman, and the rest of the League seemed to realize this. As a warning, Nightwing briefly took the gun off of the villains and shot a bullet in front of Batman, Black Canary, and Red Hood. He trained the gun back on the villains not a second later. He noticed the Talon had moved towards him in the brief period of time. With reluctance, the League returned to their previous position. Nightwing trusted them to stay away and turned back to the villains at hand. He focused on them.

“Here I was hoping you wouldn’t be stupid,” Deathstroke growled.


	26. Loss

Nightwing glared at the mercenary. Quickly accessing the situation at hand. _Queen Bee will be easy to take out. She said, herself, that she can’t use her powers. Ra’s Al Ghul and Deathstroke will be difficult, but the Talon is the biggest threat right now._ _Okay, think Nightwing! You are a Bludhaven detective._ Nightwing’s eyes briefly left the four villains in front of him. He noticed that the jet was still landed and cooling down. _The pilot is going to open the door. I can use the distraction to bring down either Ra’s Al Ghul or Queen Bee._ Nightwing, Deathstroke, Ra’s Al Ghul, Queen Bee, and the Talon stood, tense and ready. None of them moving a single muscle. Nightwing kept his eyes flickering between the villains. Ra’s Al Ghul’s gaze kept flickering to Deathstroke every now and then. _A silent question._ The Talon’s area of focus couldn’t be determined with the mask, but Nightwing could tell he was staring at Nightwing hungrily. _He’s looking forward to the fight. Waiting to see what I bring to the table._ Deathstroke stared at Nightwing’s chest with hard focus. _Probably trying to find the weakest point._ Queen Bee was full on staring at Nightwing’s crotch. Her gaze would crawl up his chest and roam back down. _Classy. Where the hell is that pilot?_ As if reading his mind, the pilot opened the door.

“What’s the big i-” The poor man began.

As soon as the door opened, Nightwing hastily put the gun on his escrima holster, grabbed Queen Bee and held her close to his chest, not to her full opposition, and slammed the side of his hand into her neck. She went limp in his arms and he dropped her. He was done doing that when the pilot was at ‘the’. He lunged for Ra’s Al Ghul and disarmed him, snatching his sword from his hand. Nightwing could hear the cheers of the Justice League behind him. Some in awe of how fast he had been able to move.  _ To be honest, I’m impressed, myself. _ Taking no time, Nightwing held the sword at Ra’s throat. The man put his hands up and had a grin on his face.

“What, child, are you going to kill me?” Ra’s asked.

“I’m seriously thinking about it,” Nightwing responded.

“Go ahead. I’ll just come back.” Ra’s said smugly.

“The Lazarus Pit can’t grow limbs, much less heads. If I take your head when leaving here, you’ll never come back.” Nightwing smiled sweetly.

Without further comment, Nightwing plunged the sword into Ra’s Al Ghul’s abdomen so hard it sank all the way to the hilt. Some of the blade penetrated the jet’s metal, pinning Ra’s Al Ghul there. Nightwing felt the shocked stares of the Justice League heating his back.  _ I would’ve thought Jay would be proud. _ Nightwing moved onto Deathstroke and the Talon. The pilot had wisely shut up and quickly backed out of the doorway and into the jet. 

“Then there were three.” Nightwing smiled.

“Never would’ve thought you would stab someone and pin them to a jet. That surprised me, really.” Deathstroke commented.

“I don’t think anyone thought I would actually do it, but that is just a means to an end.” Nightwing dismissed.

Nightwing knew what Deathstroke was doing. Deathstroke was distracting him so the Talon could get behind Nightwing and attack from the front and the back.  _ Not going to work _

“Just a means to an end’ he says. That’s an interesting excuse. It applies to what the Light’s doing as well. Giving everyone Cadmus programming so peace can be ruler.” Deathstroke said.

“Peace? More like the Light members.” Nightwing scoffed. 

“You were a Light member.” Deathstroke reminded.

“Not anymore,” Nightwing growled.

“You were always more fit for the Court.” A voice sounded right at his ear.

Nightwing ducked, a blade sliced the air above him, and placed his hands on the ground. He quickly swung his legs up and kicked the Talon away and landed into a backbend before swinging back over to land on his feet.

“Acrobatics is always nice to know,” Nightwing said.

Nightwing lunged forwards, toward Deathstroke, and punched for the man’s face. Deathstroke caught his fist. The Talon moved in behind Nightwing and stabbed at Nightwing’s chest. Before the blade made contact, Nightwing used his other hand to catch the blade, efficiently slicing a line in his palm. Nightwing brought his leg up to Deathstroke’s armored chest and launched himself over the Talon, his fist coming free of Deathstroke’s iron grip. Nightwing never let go of the Talons blade as he flipped over the assassin.  _ His left arm must bend all the way over at landing. He’ll let go due to the discomfort. _ Nightwing felt, heard, and saw the Talons shoulder pop and he landed. The blade was still in the Talons grasp.  _ Shit. _

“That didn’t go as planned, did it?” The Talons voice revealed his smirk.

The next second, the Talon turned to the left and brought his knee straight into Nightwings abdomen. Gripping Nightwing's hair, he yanked the detective's head up and brought his lips close to Nightwings ear.

“And you were doing so well.” He said, disappointed.

“I’m not done yet,” Nightwing growled.

Nightwing grabbed the forgotten gun from his escrima stick holster, thankful it had stayed there. He quickly squeezed off three shots. One of the bullets tore through the Talons thigh. Another through his upper arm and the third slammed into the Talons ribcage and lung. Nightwing could tell the bullet shattered inside the Talons chest.  _ He’ll drown on his own blood. _ Despite the conflictions, Nightwing squeezed a shot off into the Talons head. He looked up at Deathstroke, refusing to think about the Justice League.

“Then there were two.” Nightwing smiled.

“Impressive, but you should know that Talon was new, not experienced. He lost because he underestimated you. Don’t worry, little bird, I won’t make that mistake.” Deathstroke said, his arms crossed and relaxed.

“Didn’t expect you to,” Nightwing replied.

Nightwing watched as Deathstroke’s whole demeanor changed in an instant. The mercenary tensed all muscles and was battle ready in less than a second. He was on Nightwing in a second. During that lung towards Nightwing, Deathstroke unsheathed his sword and slammed it down towards Nightwing. Nightwing barely had time to bring the gun up to block the blade. It was a mistake. The barrel of the gun bent under the force of the mercenary’s sword.  _ No weapons. _ Deathstroke knew what he had done. Nightwing jumped away and looked at the sword holding Ra’s to the jet.  _ Really do not want to but have to.  _ Nightwing ran towards the body. Deathstroke sliced at the air in front of Nightwing. Nightwing went down to his knees and slide under the blade, some of his hair getting cut off. Getting up, Nightwing sprinted to Ra’s Al Ghul and pulled the blade out of the jet and body. For extra measure, Nightwing stabbed Ra’s Al Ghul’s chest. He didn’t look at the blood that flowed onto the clearing from both bodies now on the field. He brought the sword up just in time to intercept Deathstroke's forceful swing. Nightwing grunted at the force.

“I thought you weren’t going to block in time.  Well done.” Deathstroke said as their blades strained under the two men.

“I already told you not to underestimate me, Slade,” Nightwing growled.

After their brief exchange, Nightwing jumped back and away from Deathstroke. They circled each other like wolves. Nightwing made the first move. He lunged forwards at swung his blade towards Deathstrokes side. As he expected, Deathstroke blocked with his sword. Lightning fast, Nightwing jumped up and struck out with a leg towards Deathstroke’s masked face. Surprisingly, his leg made contact with Deathstroke’s mask with a forceful kick. The mercenary’s mask flew off and away from the two fighters as Nightwing landed back on the ground. It landed on the ground and cracked. Slade, with a scuffed face, looked at it then at Nightwing.

“That was a new mask.” He commented.

“Such a shame, then,” Nightwing responded.

Deathstroke stalked forwards, intimidating. Nightwing readied himself for the upcoming assault. Deathstroke sheathed his sword. Nightwing looked at him curiously. 

“I don’t need anything to defeat you,” Deathstroke said cockily.

Nightwing growled at that but said nothing. Deathstroke lunged forwards, arm raised to attack. The two exchanged swift, powerful kicks and punches for several minutes. Nightwing jumping and leaping over Deathstroke and his limbs. He was using his acrobatics and flexibility to the max against Deathstroke. Deathstroke was not holding anything back, using all capable moves against Nightwing. Both of the two skilled fighters landed hits on the other. Deathstroke more so than Nightwing, but Nightwing had better-placed hits. Suddenly, Deathstroke brought a gun out and aimed it towards the crowd of heroes watching their fight. The bullet wasn’t aimed at anyone specific, but it hit someone. Nightwing saw Robin fall.

“No-!” Nightwing yelled.

His attention turned to the heroes for a split second. Deathstroke took this small opening as he went behind Nightwing, unsheathing his sword. Nightwing was turning around as he realized where Deathstroke was.  _ I’m not going to be fast enough. _ Deathstroke plunged the sword through Nightwing’s chest. The force behind the blade caused Nightwing to arch his back and get picked up off the ground about a foot. He cried out in pain and could hear the other heroes yell for both him and Robin.

* * *

 

Red Hood watched as Deathstroke’s sword ripped through Nightwing and showed at his chest. He could see the surprise and pain on Nightwing’s face as he processed. To make it worse, Deathstroke twisted his blade. Nightwing cried out again. 

“NO!” Red Hood yelled as he aimed his gun.

His brother was dying right in front of him, yards away. Aiming at Deathstroke, Red Hood fired off shots as he stalking angrily forward. Deathstroke extracted his blade from Nightwing, who fell to the ground and laid weakly on the unforgiving ground. Red Hood didn’t stop shooting and reloaded twice as he walked towards Nightwing. He could feel angry tears under his helmet. He ripped it off, leaving Jason in his mask. Deathstroke just laughed as he boarded the jet and began to take off as he fired up the engines. 

“Someone stop him! NOW!” Red Hood yelled.

Red Hood then knelt down and checked on Nightwing. The detective had blood running down his chin and tears at his eyes. There was a hole in his chest from the blade.  _ There’s so much blood, too much blood. What do I do? What do I do? _ Red Hood started panicking as he tried to staunch the bleeding. His hands shaking. Batman leaned down as well. Neither of them bothered to look at the jet as it flew off with other heroes hot on its tail. Together, Batman and Red Hood tried to stop the bleeding.

“Stop,” Nightwing said weakly, quietly.

Red Hood stared at him, blood ran down Nightwing’s chin as he coughed.

“It’s too late.” He muttered.

“No, no, don’t talk like that.” Red Hood replied.

“Just...promise me you’ll...stop the Li... Light. Okay?” Nightwing said.

Red Hood nodded, unable to speak as his throat closed. 

“You know, for...knowing you...guys for...a few… weeks. I...already feel...like family...with you.” Nightwing laughed weakly. “How...funny.” 

“You are family,” Batman said from the side.

“You tell... Gordon...he’s a good cop...and how I… Okay?” Nightwing requested.

“Okay.” Batman nodded.

It was easy to hear the strain on his voice.

More heroes came and surrounded Nightwing as he breathed his last breath and went limp. He had a small smile on his face. Robin trailed behind them. The bullet had torn through his shoulder, a clean shot. He pushed through the crowd, wondering why he didn’t hear any medical commands or other shouting. He came into the inner circle and saw Nightwing, Red Hood, and Batman. He couldn’t see Nightwing’s face, but he could see the gaping hole in his still chest. Red Hood’s back was shaking as he cried. Batman’s countenance revealed his sadness. His mouth in a tight line. 

“Nightwing?” He asked.

Batman looked up at the youngest and shook his head. 

“He’s gone.” Red Hood choked.


	27. Resurrection

Talia al Ghul watched from the shadows of the trees surrounding the clearing. She was tempted to interfere with the fight between Nightwing and the four villains but decided against it. Until Nightwing turned his attention away from Deathstroke. She lunged forwards but stopped just outside the trees before forcing herself back into the darkness of the shadows. She was told to be on standby just in case her father was killed. She was to bring him to the Lazarus Pits. _I have to wrestle with two corpses if the detective dies._ She had taken her usual protective mother stance with Richard, just as she did the others. Richard was now lumped in with Bruce’s lost boys he calls sons. Though her beloved will never admit it, the moment Richard figured out their identities, the detective became a son. He even knew how to handle the other two. She would hope he could handle her son as well. _He’ll be meeting him soon._ _I really need to tell Bruce about Damian._ She watched as Red Hood and Batman informed the youngest of them of their loss. The young boy broke immediately. Tears streamed from his mask. How she longed to hold him and tell him it’s alright. She’ll fix everything. She didn’t do that. She watched as Robin tried CPR and banged on the still chest. The lack of response caused the young bat to grip Nightwing’s uniform and cry loudly. He continued to bang on his chest, yelling about how he had to wake up. Superboy came up and knelt down. He said something to Robin, she couldn’t hear what. Robin ignored him and continued crying. Looking guilty, Superboy wrapped his arms around Robin and hoisted him up and stepped away from the body. Robin fought like hell to break loose. He couldn’t. Superboy took him to the now visible bioship. _The martian’s here. Can she sense me?_ Talia looked at the green girl in the crowd. She was snuggled up to her uncle. _Contact comfort._ Both of the Martians didn’t sense her. _Good._ She watched from the darkness as Batman guided Red Hood up and away from Nightwing’s body. The heroes left as the police came onto the scene. _I have to act fast._ Talia sprinted out of the trees and grabbed Nightwing first. She threw him over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Quickly, she ran into the forest and gently placed his body in her helicopter. Sprinting back, she picked up her father in a bridal carry and ran back to the helicopter. She laid him down not as gently and went to the cockpit. She started up the engines and eased herself above the trees. Below her, she saw the heroes look up and shout. Their surprise allowed her to fly off. She made her way back to the main base of the assassins. Landing, she opened the doors.

“Help me get them to the Lazarus Pit.” She ordered.

Not wanting her assassins to touch Richard, she gently put him in her arms and went inside the base. 

“Mother! Is Grandfather...Who is that?” Damian demanded.

“A friend,” Talia replied.

“He looks familiar,” Damian commented.

Talia could tell there was a demand to know exactly who Richard was, but she didn’t respond as she continued to walk. Walking down many flights of stairs, she came into the Lazarus Pit. Damian wasn’t allowed down near the pits when someone was being revived so he stayed above ground and away from the pits. She hated being revived and hoped Richard would forgive her. The assassins carrying Ra’s al Ghul followed her. 

“Him first.” She nodded towards the corpse in her arms.

The assassins looked confused but said nothing. She threw him in and proceeded to perform the reviving process. She led the assassins to another Lazarus Pit further down.

“Now my father.” She said.

Talia did the same with her father and went back up to check on Richard. _It’ll take a few hours, maybe a day._ _Father will take a few hours._ She decided to go back upstairs and tend to her son. 

“Watch both of the pits.” She commanded two assassins.

One to be stationed with Richard and the other with her father.

“Any action from either of them, get me.” She added.

The two assassins nodded and one went to go further down to her father.

* * *

 

Green. Green all around him. Green in his skin, in his lungs.  _ I need to breathe! _ Thrashing around, he shot up from the Lazarus Pit. Waves informed him he was in a pool of green. He coughed up water and breathed heavily as he took in his surroundings.

“Hello.” A voice said from behind him.

Richard spun around causing a wave to lap up the side. A boy sat cross-legged at the edge of the pool.

“Where… Who…?” Richard wasn’t sure what to ask first.

“You’re in a Lazarus Pit. It revives people. You died, do you remember?” The boy asked.

Richard could hear a set of rushed steps. 

“Who are you?” He asked.

“Damian. You know my mother, Talia al Ghul, and grandfather, Ra’s al Ghul.” Damian said.

“Right, you said I died…” Richard trailed.

“You have a scar on your chest if you don’t believe me. You’re still in your death clothes too. There’s still some blood on them, despite being submerged for almost a day.” Damian informed.

While he was saying this, a woman barged into the chamber and looked at Damian then Richard, who was still waist deep in the Lazarus Pit. Richard looked at himself and, yes, there was a large scar in the middle of his chest. He had on the Nightwing suit, but it was reduced to just pants and scraps of material on his body.

“Damian, you know the rules.” The woman said.

“Yes, Mother, but I heard him before you came down. I didn’t want him to be alone when he came to.” Damian excused.

“Um...who are you?” Richard asked the woman.

She looked at him.

“What?” She said.

“W-Who are you?” Richard repeated.

“Talia al Ghul...don’t you remember me, Richard?” Talia asked.

Richard’s memory slammed into awareness at his name. He clutched his head as he remembered.  _ Batman, Red Hood, Robin, Gordon, The Waynes, The Light, Nightwing, The fight...My death. _ He looked around wide-eyed as he felt himself get stabbed again. The pain wasn’t as intense as when it actually happened, but it made him clutch at his scar. He waded over to the edge of the pool and Damian and Talia helped him up. Together, they lead the revived man up the stairs and to the surface. Walking into the light of day, Richard saw quite a number of people training with swords, doing hand-to-hand combat, firearm practice, and sparring.

“Welcome to the League of Assassins.” Talia smiled from his right, under his arm.

* * *

 

Richard stayed at the compound for a few months before something happened. He had gotten comfortable with Ra’s, but Richard was still a bit cautious of the man. Richard and Talia were much closer now as well. Richard helped her with Damian and quickly became the responsible big brother figure, but Damian was very mature and it was often that Richard would tease and joke around with him. Richard and Damian were sparring when an explosion rocked the base. Helicopters surrounded them from the air and soldiers were streaming down the walls. Talia had her sword in hand as she sprinted over to the two boys. She tossed Richard the escrima stick he engineered, just like his old ones but these looked cooler and packed more of a punch. She gave Damian the katana he fancied.

“Protect each other!” She ordered as she fought.

Richard and Damian fought with her against the numerous soldiers. The three of them made quite the team. Ra’s al Ghul soon joined and the four of them were killing attackers left in right, Richard was only knocking them out, leaving a trail of fallen bodies. Their small victory didn’t last long. More and more soldiers were streaming in faster than the assassins were killing them.

“Damian, Richard, leave!” Ra’s yelled over the fight.

“What? No!” Richard and Damian said.

“Now!” Talia agreed.

“We can’t just leave you!” Richard shouted as he electrocuted a soldier going for Damian.

“This is not up for debate!” Ra’s growled.

“We aren’t leaving,” Damian replied.

“This is an order! LEAVE!” Talia yelled.

Richard and Damian looked at each other. They both knew that when Talia made a rare order, it was not to be questioned. 

“Fine. You know where I’m going.” Richard said.

Talia nodded at him. Richard grabbed Damian’s wrist and sprinted with him through the crowd. He knocked out as many soldiers as he could along the way. Damian could feel the tension in Richard through the iron grip on his wrist. Richard led Damian through the compound and to a helicopter in the bay. Shoving Damian into the co-pilot seat, Richard went around.

“Behind you!” Damian’s muffled voice warned.

Spinning around, Richard delivered a hard punch to the soldier's face, knocking him out. He continued his path to the pilot's seat. Jumping in he started the engines and went airborne.

* * *

 

Richard was glad to find a motorcycle in the base. Hopping on, he started the engine.

“Get on.” He told Damian.

“Where are we going?” Damian asked.

“Get on,” Richard answered.

Richard handed Damian the helmet as the boy got seated. With a tug on the back of his jacket, Richard zoomed down the streets. Pulling up to his destination late at night, Richard allowed Damian off first and then got off himself. He walked up to the door, Damian trailing behind, and knocked. An older man opened the door. He took in Richard’s appearance and Damian behind him with wide eyes. Another younger man came to the door, a question fading from his lips as he saw the visitors.

“Hey, Alfred, Bruce.”


End file.
